The other day I had an idea for a photo at one of my favorite remote locations. Let me back up just a bit.
I recently consolidated all my camera gear into the Nikon Z system. I had some Nikon F mount gear including a great Nikon D850 camera. But I really like the mirrorless system, lighter, fantastic lenses, slightly different sensor. So with some sadness I sold all my Nikon F mount gear. In return I received a new Nikon Z 180-600mm zoom. I haven’t been out to test it much except for a quick test to see how it would work for the February full Moon, the Snow Moon.
I was quite pleased with how my new lens focused on the Moon, so I had an idea. How about a picture of the crescent Moon as it rises above the horizon a few days before the next New Moon? Looking at my Sky Guide app on my iPhone I saw that in early March, I had a chance to not only catch a crescent Moon, but the Milky Way would also make its first of the season appearance on the eastern horizon shortly before sunrise. A chance to catch two images with one outing.
As I’ve mentioned previously in my writings, the Alvord Desert of Oregon is just a 3 hour drive from my house. This time of year the valley is bereft of visitors due to the chilly winter weather, and the likelihood of water on the playa. I have been to the playa in March and seen it with small amounts of water, I have seen it in summer completely dry, and I’ve seen it in summer partially covered with water. This year, there had been several storms with substantial precipitation so the odds of the playa being wet were high.
As I planned for this trip a major winter storm swept through California and southern Oregon. New snow in the Sierra Nevada was measured in feet, not inches. The storm also caught a portion of southern Oregon with substantial snow in the mountains and rain and snow in the lower elevations. A window of opportunity looked like it would open up March 7. This looked like an ideal morning to catch both the crescent Moon and the Milky Way. On the Alvord playa the Milky Way would be visible starting at about 2am. Nautical twilight would begin at 6:10am putting the moon above the horizon while the horizon is changing color prior to sunrise. On the morning of March 6 skies were still cloudy with showers in the area. It looked like it would clear that night, but would the eastern horizon be clear of clouds for the crescent Moon to shine through? It was risky. So I delayed one day.
On March 8, the Milky Way would be in virtually the same place and the Moon would be delayed in its rising by about 35 minutes. This later moonrise would put it closer to the Sun with a brighter sky on the horizon. Not exactly the best situation, but certainly a good photo remained a possibility.
The weather on March 7-8 did not disappoint. On arrival at the Alvord, a few puffy low clouds to the southeast would quickly dissipate as the sun set. Skies to the west were crystal clear. The playa was nearly completely covered in water, more water than I had ever seen on the playa. The solitude of the Alvord rarely disappoints, and certainly did not on this occasion. As expected this time of year, only locals were anywhere near the valley. The drive from Boise saw few cars.
After sunset with the stars shinning brightly, I heard the distant call of a coyote far to the north. A few seconds later, another howl, this time much closer, but still far to the north. Then a few seconds later, more howls, this time only a thousand feet (1 km) away, or less. The temperature was about 28 F (-2 C). I set my alarm for 2:30 am and went to bed. My camera was all set up on the tripod with approximate settings. At 230 I got up, got dressed, grabbed my camera and tripod and stepped out to set everything up. A few test shots and I was confident everything would work. The Milky Way was just making its appearance above the horizon. I set my camera to take pictures every 20 seconds and went back to bed. This time I set my alarm for 5am.
At 5am the eastern horizon would begin to lighten as astronomical twilight begins. I had two jobs. adjust my settings gradually to accommodate more light, and set up another camera with my new telephoto lens to get that shot of the rising Moon. These tasks are both pretty simple, with more standing doing nothing than actually moving around. And now, in the pre dawn darkness, it was cold. I was thinking it might be close to 20 deg F (-7 C), but with the ice that formed in those short 6 hours of darkness, it would not surprise me if it was closer to 10 deg F (-12 C). It was cold.
As the clock ticked (ever so slowly in the cold) past 530 to 545, I kept scanning the now very light eastern horizon for any hint of the Moon. I did see a faint light that at first I thought was an airplane, then realized it was Mars rising just ahead of where I was expecting to see the Moon. 545 turned to 555 and still no sign of the Moon. By now the horizon was getting very light and I could detect a hazy character to the eastern horizon sky. Mars was visible, but it seemed there was a layer of clouds below Mars near the horizon. With the now fairly light sky it was time to end my time series of Milky Way photos. The image below is about the last shot of the stars with the Milky Way still visible and the eastern Horizon now getting lighter.
6am came, then 610, still no Moon. Sunrise was expected at 617 and with the sky now very light, I gave up on that Moon photo. Darn, I guess I’ll have to return to the Alvord another day with a crescent Moon before sunrise.
The other photo possibility is to watch the snow covered Steens Mountains glow in the early morning light. Would the mountains glow red with the rising sun? Pink? Nope, the clouds obscuring the rising crescent Moon would also dull the morning light shining on the mountains. Pretty, but not epic.
I took the above photos shortly after sunrise. When I realized the light was nothing spectacular, and my hands were now very numb, and my feet were quite cold. I stopped my photo sessions, packed my camera gear, and headed for the hot tub. Ahh what a relief, warm water, clear skies, no wind, the sun rising above the eastern horizon, absolute calm, quiet, and stillness in the air. Life is good.
So I succeeded (my seasons earliest Milky Way photo), and I failed (no crescent Moon photo). Did I learn anything? Yes I did. Each time I get out and use my gear I am a bit more proficient. The neat thing about photographing the moon is it repeats its phases about every 29.5 days. Four weeks after this attempt, there will be another crescent Moon rising ahead of the sun, I’ll be somewhere to catch that photo. Was the cold night worth it? Yes it was. Being in a remote area with pristine dark skies, unobstructed vistas that go for a hundred miles (160 km), the soul is refreshed.
I’ll leave you with one final photo, the heavy traffic I have to contend with to get to these remote locations. This section of road shown is about 8 miles (13 km) long. I tried to get another vehicle in the photo but after sitting in the middle of the road for 10 minutes, I gave up.
If you have any comments, questions, criticism, or something you’d like to share about this post, this area, or spending time in remote locations. Please leave a comment.
Thank you for reading. Be kind, be healthy, have fun, enjoy,
Paul