My favorite photo of 2015 was taken in late August on the Icefield’s parkway just north of Banff, Canada. It was just after midnight and I had planned a shot using the Star Walk app to frame the Milky Way directly over the Bow Glacier after the moon had set. While waiting for the milky way to move over the glacier where it spilled into the lake. There were two other photographers there doing the same thing. I was taking some shots and noticed that the glacier had taken on a greenish color as I was reviewing images. I turned around and a strong aurora was visible above the trees. Having been to Peyto Lake which was a few miles up the road earlier in the day, I knew that the overlook would be a great vista to shoot from so the three of us drove back up the road and I captured quite a few images of the aurora over the lake as well as some nice time lapse footage. I was fortunate to be there on that night since it had been cloudy for a few weeks and seeing a strong aurora there is not common but that night there was a solar storm and the KP index hit 6. It was also the first time that one of the people that I had met had ever seen the aurora.
The arch, carved out by the Ardèche River, is 60m (200ft) wide and 54m (175ft) high. It is a very popular canoeing and kayaking area and is heavily visited by tourists. It is usually described as the natural entrance to the Ardèche Canyon.
This is my favorite, for sentimental reasons as much as anything. I try to include one or all three of my dogs in my travels, which quite honestly make night photography in the backcountry quite challenging. For the Perseids I had a permit to go backpacking in the southern Sierras with one of my dogs but when we got over there the smoke from the Rough fire was really bad.
Catching a clear night during the summer at the CA coast can be a challenge. The coast often fogs over at sunset and into the night. I have made many attempts to photograph the famous Bixby Bridge. But last summer, I was lucky and not only was the night sky clear, there was little wind which made being out until almost midnight much more pleasant. A strong flashlight aided in the light painting since the bridge was quite a bit away. I am pleased to offer this image for inclusion into the alumni group image collection.