AZ Part 15: Upward and Distant

As day wanes in the desert, temperatures approach habitable levels again and the light does all sorts of interesting things. On this particular evening, however, the wind was still a-howlin' and that put a minor damper on our outdoor festivities.


Come and go

The wind really made that photo difficult, too. 13 seconds at 800mm, paired with the wind, and also taking into account the sparse traffic...well, that one's the best, and you can still see the squigglies.

Fortunately, though, only a few minutes had to pass before the rare conjunction of Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury descended to the horizon, and that was a much easier photo to make.


Special alignment

As the western light faded, I braced against the wind and stuck my camera on the tripod, pointed skyward. There was a space of a couple hours before the rising moon would brighten the sky too much, so I "worked diligently" inside while my camera did all the real work outside.


Aided by a rising moon... (click for bigger, and fair warning for 12MB download)

Another super day in the books, and we crashed hard with big aspirations for our last day in the desert.

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