SpaceX rocket launch - Fireworks over Aspendell

As promised, here is the final shot of the past SpaceX launch from Aspendell. This one took on the form of a firework so I saved it as we move into 2019. With Christmas over the countdown begins. I consider myself super lucky and fortunate to have been able to see this launch from such a great area. Hope to catch the next launch over LA. All versions of this launch are under the nightscapes section of my website. As I (hopefully) snag more launch shots I may create a new category for them. As with all of the shots, this is 2 exposures; one for the land and one for the sky without moving the camera at all. This is another 50mm view.

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Snowy Mt. Baldy with low fog in Los Angeles

With this shot becoming so popular nowadays the unique aspect of the shot is getting those unusual conditions. In terms of sky burns here it’s not all that common but it happens. In terms of low fog, this is the only time I’ve seen it under the skyline but not covering the snow caps. I still prefer a sunset here as the sunrise light gets quite hazy here as the sun hits the shot from the side but sunrise brings those rare opportunities such as this. This is a slightly different comp with Baldy offset of the city taken the morning after a fresh storm. You can see the sidelight starting to pour in which gave the fog a nice warm glow. That payoff of seeing the conditions unfold in front of me is worth it even if it means getting skunked more often than not. I have some pre-sunrise burns from this shoot that I’ll post later but I like the warmth of this one. Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200 + 1.4tc, f/11, 1/25 sec, ISO-50

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch and Milky Way from Aspendell

I have two versions of the SpaceX launch from this past October that I haven’t shown so rather than repost one here is the wide angle version of that sexy exhaust plume. If you recall, I had two cameras setup side by side one with my 14-24 and one with my 50mm both shooting the same thing. My 50mm version of this was the one I posted the night of the actual launch. This version has a bit more sky allowing some of that MW detail to shine above the plume. I was fortunate to be in a dark location to where I was able to catch star detail along with the launch as I feel it gives the shot another element that adds to the composition. The MW was pretty washed out but it was pretty much the same as shooting while the moon is up. Light pollution no matter if its natural or manmade has serious adverse effects on dark skies hence my number one tip for shooting the MW is always to get to an area that has minimal light pollution. I’ll throw up the last comp of this launch on my feed before the end of the year.

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Mt. Tam fog flow

Still got a ton of variations of this tam fog so here’s an unseen tele version of the wave. From the time I got here about 2 hours before sunset to the time I left around an hour after sunset the fog changed so much. The tip of the salesforce tower was visible upon arrival but disappeared into the fog shortly after. The height of the fog kept changing constantly just like watching the tide of the ocean. I swear I could have sat here all night and probably would have stayed longer but didn’t want to risk a ticket from the ranger. Hope to catch some more of this goondness next summer. Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/11, 25 sec, ISO-50

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Los Angeles and Mt. Baldy twilight

Hit up Kenneth Hahn state park for sunset this past Friday night. There were some epic low clouds that hung around and got kinda thick at sunset but dropped down to a nice level by twilight. Super clear air after the storm, probably one of the cleanest shots I have from here yet. Best day to get this money twilight shot is the day right after the storm. Decided on a vertical as most if not all of my shots here are horizontal. This is a single shot in the earlier stages of twilight when there was still some afterglow on Baldy. Nikon D750, Nikkor 300mm f4, f/14, 3 sec, ISO-50

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Los Angeles and San Gabriel mountains from Palos Verdes

This scene as a whole does not exist so don’t go looking for it. The way LA lines up from this spot in PV, you get mountains behind just not the snow caps. I went up to a local spot last night to check the snow levels for this morning’s sesh. That storm cleared super fast and by sunset most of the San Gabriel’s were visible. I snapped a shot of the last light hitting the mountains and firing up the clouds, and a separate shot of the city and some lingering fog and merged the two. Both were shot from the same spot and both with the 300mm, LA is just way to the left of these peaks. So I had some fun with this one. I’ll end up editing some true shots from last night and show you what actually does line up from here. In this shot you can see Del Amo mall in the foreground all the way out to LA in the back. The city was super clear after the rain. 

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First light over Los Angeles

Cleaner version of this shot is now up on the website. All the conditions aligned this morning. Great sunrise light hitting the low fog, clear air from the storm, and a nice fresh coat of snow on the San Gabriel Mountains and Mt. Baldy.

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Los Angeles with low fog and snow capped San Gabriel Mountains

Sometimes all the conditions line up just right. I snapped this at sunrise as the sun hit the scene from the side.

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Top of Snow Capped Baldy, Los Angeles

I always love seeing different conditions unfold from here as it makes each shot unique. I have a handful edited from my sunrise sesh on Thursday but here is one from last night. I came here with the entire fam to take some shots of the kids and we hung around on the grass for sunset. The tip of Baldy was playing peek-a-boo all day and it peaked out at the perfect time to catch the last light hitting it before setting behind me. Forgot how much I miss seeing the sunset reflect off the skyline from here. Got some nice Christmas colors on the US Bank tower as well. Winter Hahn season is starting off right…a good make up from last year when I didn’t get anything good from here. I’ll be back after the next storm rolls through again.

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