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I have been running Milky Way Photography Workshops in Death Valley since 2015. I have a few lined up for 2021 and 2022 if you want to join us! Spots are filling up fast! Enjoy!
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OCEAN CITY , NEW JERSEYAUGUST 4TH, 2020
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I just received my 8GB custom flash drives from USB Memory Direct and I am simply blown away. The 'Tower" version, is a sleek wooden design that stands out and screams elegance, class, and durability. These custom USB drives not only keep you securely connected with your most important files, but the natural earthy designs bring a piece of the outdoors with you wherever you go. These drives are a perfect gift to give to your clients, wedding and portrait clients, magazine editors, or gifts for workshops participants and at tradeshows.
The process is super easy, I selected the type of device, uploaded my logo and selected the amount and size of storage, they arrived a week later. Patrick Whitener, the partnership coordinator, was extremely helpful, and responded with lightning speed to any questions I had. You do not have to worry about loosing the cap either, strong magnets are implanted in the wood to secure the cap from falling off. If you like to doodle with things, this magnet will keep you entertained all day long!
USB Direct offers multiple finishes to choose from. The images pictured are here are the "Walnut" finish. You also have (5) five other options to choose from such as, Natural Bamboo, Maple Bamboo, Pine, Mahogany, and Light Fiber Wood. The USB drives aren't limited to 8GB either, these USB 3.0 go all the way up to 128GB!
If that isn't enough, you have even more designs and shapes to play with. They even offer the USB Flash Drives in leather, professional USB Pens, USB wristbands and so much more.
Perfect gifts for clients
For first time customers, use the coupon code "PHOTO10" to received 10% OFF your first order of custom drives!! Visit Please head over to (https://www.usbmemorydirect.com/ to get started!
You will not be disappointed and I can't wait to place our next order!
Check are some additional photos and make sure to visit their website! - www.usbmemorydirect.com
Check out the galleries for new images! I will be updating them over the next 4 weeks! Thanks so much!
https://www.jeffberkes.com/portfolio
Here are just a few samples!
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You can view all 2020 Night Sky Photography Workshops here | https://www.jeffberkes.com/2020-night-sky-photography-workshops
Here are just a few of my favorite photos from my workshops at Death Valley National Park.
ZODIAC LIGHT OVER DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARKZodiac Light over Death Valley National Park, 2017
ROCK STARS
REFLECTIONS OF HEAVENDeath Valley National Park, CA
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK | MILKY WAY RAINBOW OVER MUDCRACKSThe milky way "rainbow" over mud cracks in Death Valley National Park, California.
KISS OF DEATHREFLECTIONS IN BADWATER BASIN
TIME WARP
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK | BADWATER
FOLLOW MEDeath Valley National Park, 2014
RESILIENCERacetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park, California
THE RACETRACK
DEATH VALLEY STARSCAPE
The workshop was a night sky photography workshop based out of Madeline Island School of Arts in the Apostles. I was approached by them 2 years ago and I selected this set of dates because historically the northern lights have graced the skies here in years past. Also, the northern lights love the equinox's for unexplained reasons and only seemed fitting to have it around the autumn equinox this year, to also capture the milky way, winter constellations and so much more, even fall foliage.
I arrived a day early to get this in order and prep for the week. I sat on the porch at MISA and noticed a glow coming from the horizon on a super overcast day. I raced down to La Pointe and photographed an amazing sunset and lightning storm for the next 2 hours. It was incredible to say the least and it was a very nice way to start off the trip. The photo below is looking west from La Pointe,WI to Bayfield, WI.
The weather determines which night we take a boat out to the sea caves at sunset, followed by a night shoot on one of the other Apostle Islands. It just so happen to be our first night out, so we did some prepping after out meet and greet the night before to get everyone comfortable with their cameras at night before the big trip out the following day.
The waters on Monday, September 23rd, 2019 was extremely calm. It was the calmest day of the year, on the baddest lake, Lake Superior. These are reflections on the water as sunset near Devils Island.
The took some time here at Devils Island to photograph the sea caves and several bald eagles on the way over here. The water levels are very high right now on the lakes almost 2 feet from what I heard.
Since the water was like ice, we had the choice to go to any island, I selected Michigan Island , so we would have more shooting time at night, more subjects and a shorter ride back at 3:00am. We arrive at Michigan Island just as the milky way popped out overhead. We all climbed 129 steps up to the old, and new, Michigan Island Lighthouses.
We docked in the pitch dark, and made our way up to the lighthouses
Here is view of the "NEW" Michigan Island Lighthouse with the red hues of the northern lights lurking over the tree tops.
After we spent some time at the lighthouses, the northern lights became visible and we left the lighthouses to go and beach the boat on a sand spit on Michigan Island to photograph the northern lights with an unobstructed view to the north. All 14 of us lined up and enjoyed the show together.
After a while here we got back on the boat as the geomagnetic storm started to subside. On the way back to Madeline Island, a group of us still worked to get some shots of the moon rising with the northern lights with the boat moving at 18 knots. It was pretty tricky, but we made out out ok despite shooting from a moving ferry at 3:00am!
Our boat was amazing, our dinners were awesome, the cookies were awesome, the cheese and meat trays were so yummy, and the wine and beer wasn't that bad either! Can't thank this crew enough.
The next couples nights worked out pretty good too. We had rain thursday night but we did some post processing in the barn while the Eagles beat the Packers in Lambeau.
Thew following night showed thunderstorms coming and a tornado watch in the area. These storms went on to produce tornado's in Wisconsin the night of 9/24/2019. We safely photographed them here on Madeline Island. When I say "safe" I mean about 4- 8 miles away. Lightning storms can strike up to 60 miles away from the center of the storm... keep that in mind.
(Photo Above) Milky Way Lagoon
The photo above is of the "Old" Michigan Island Lighthouse. Both lighthouses are a stones throw away from one another.
Wednesday cleared up closer to 11:30pm and we had clear skies the rest of the night.
These are just a few images from the week, the participants created some amazing work and I am really, really proud of everyone.
I am looking forward to be able to do this again in 2020. If you are interest in joining this workshop in September 2020 check out my website for more details under "2020 Workshops!"
A big thanks to the Madeline Island School of Arts, and to all the participants that joined this workshop to make it as magical as it was. Looking forward to seeing you all again soon!
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ORIONID FIREBALLElectric Blue Smoke Trail
Here are some photos from the night out, I have not finished looking through all of the shots, but I hope to in the coming weeks.
A small group of us was allowed on private property to get these shots, because if that, this location in the US will not be named.
SHIPWRECK FIREBALL | ORIONID METEOR SHOWER OCTOBER 2017
Orionid Fireball over Shipwreck
ORIONID METEOR AND DOCK | OCTOBER 2017
An Orionid meteor over a busted dock.
SHIPWRECK | ORIONID METEOR SHOWER OCTOBER 201
An Orionid Meteor over Shipwreck at dawn
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BAY PANO | NEW JERSEY | 2017
Keep checking the galleries and workshop pages for updates!
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This was all shot in 4k with the DJI Phantom 3 Professional quadcopter. This video is the 1080p version.
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We met at before sunset and had a bite to eat at Goulding's Lodge before our night out with the milky way, as you can see, it was a great first night out.
Dinner took much longer than anticipated and we all raced back to catch the last light on the mittens in Monument Valley with only minutes to spare.
The west mitten casting it's shadow on the east mitten at sunset
One of the great things about parks and photography is that you always meet some interesting people along the way, most people that you will see will have the same passion and love for nature and the outdoors.... sometimes all of that excitement can lead into a series of backflips at Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
As the sun disappeared below the horizon the stars began to come out. We experimented with a few shots and went over some ideas for our milky way shoot early in the morning. We went over how to create star trails in 3 different ways and view a couple timelapse samples that I have created in years past.
This is a 2 image panorama taken at 50mm with my Nikon D4. We used the moon to illuminate the foreground in these shots.
We regrouped a few hours later to create some star trails and a panorama of the Milky Way over the valley. This is 7 single vertical exposures stitched together to create this stunning panorama at Monument Valley Tribal Park. No moon was present.
Dawn begins to break as the clouds begin to develop to our east
After our Milky Way session, we waited for the sun to rise with hopes of a beautiful dawn. Overnight, the temps dipped into the low 30's, and with the dewpoints in the low 30's as well, we started to get condensation and frost on our equipment. That meant we had enough moisture in the air to get some fog and mist in the valley that morning for sunrise. We waited and were blessed with some moments of photo heaven!
As the morning evolved the light got even better.
Then we saw mother nature in one of her most unguarded moments, this is why we do what we do. This is single exposure with a Grad. ND Filter.
Nikon D4 | 17mm @ f/8
After Sunrise we got some breakfast and planned to meet up in the afternoon in Page, AZ for our Night Shoot in Upper Antelope Canyon.
I arrived in Page, AZ earlier than anticipated and went to scout out a location that was on our list for the last night shoot. To get there you take an unpaved road, so I wanted to see how it has changed since my last visit. 95% of the road was fine except for a 80 foot section which could possibly cause some issues for some of the drivers with large ruts and very soft soil.. The last 2 nights were mostly cloudy with rain, so we wouldn't have been able to shoot there at night with clouds and rain, the road also turned to soup.
The 2nd night shoot was postponed until the following night because of rain and clouds. The forecast for the following night had clearing, so we switched it around to make it work at the Canyon with better weather and to hopefully capture some stars.
The next morning
We got a good rest and met up in the morning at Lower Antelope Canyon, some decided to take a walk down to Horseshoe Bend for sunrise while a few storms started to roll in again.
The rain began shortly after leaving Horseshoe Bend and continued for the rest of the day. Despite the clouds and rain, we spent a couple of hours in Lower Antelope Canyon. After all, these canyons were formed by powerful flash floods, it was nice to capture them in the light that they were created in. The colors in the canyon are typically best on sunny days when the color temperature is all over the place, but as you can see, cloudy days aren't that bad either.
You can see here by adjusting your color balance (WB), you can change the appearance of the color tones in the canyon and the overall feel of the photo. It's personal preference to what color palette you like the best
Lower Antelope Canyon - Page Arizona
"Rocky Mountain High" | Lower Antelope Canyon
Lower Antelope Canyon is narrow, but I feel has the best photo opportunities and is less crowded.
Detail Shots Galore!
After our tour of Lower Antelope Canyon, we took a break to dry off, get a bite to eat, and download our images. Since it rained all day long we decided to meet up for a few hours and review our images at a hotel in the area. We had a great time checking out the shots, talking about post processing and putting some panorama's together from our previous shoots. After our post processing session, we went out to dinner to a nice Italian joint before our 2nd attempt at photographing Antelope Canyon at night.
We arrived there at 8:45pm with rain and drizzle still going on. The forecast was so wrong, all week, but we can not control the weather. We went on with it regardless and spent a few hours light painting the canyon. Around 11pm, we went outside with some steal wool and had little fun with our guide Roman. At that point, the clouds began to clear and the stars began to shine. A couple of us ran back in the canyon to get a couple shots looking up at the stars before we left. There wasn't many, but there were some.
I would like to thank all of the participants who attended the Arches and Desert Southwest workshop. Many of you joined both, and it was a pleasure and an honor to spend so much time with you in so many amazing places. Workshop Alumni can receive 20% on all future workshops with me as a small thank you for your interest and support. It is very much appreciated!
If you would like to attend a Workshop in the Page, Arizona area, please contact me and let me know! Hope you enjoyed this short blog about our adventures in the Desert Southwest and hope to return in 2018! Keep check back for as I will update my galleries in May 2017 and hopefully adding images from the participants as they come in that were taken during these workshops
Thanks and Never Stop Exploring!
www.jeffberkes.com
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I hit the ground a day before the workshop started and took a long drive up from ALBQ to Colorado the first day. Weather wasn't the best in Bisti so I continued to move north and west toward shiprock while expecting the weather to clear up some... Which is did... in a way. Storms surrounded Shiprock gives some dramatic light to the landscape.
Here is a short timelapse of the sunset.
As the Sun set and the colors vanished, I made my way into Colorado and spent the night in Cortez. The next morning I made may way through some snow enroute to Arches to get ready for the workshop that evening. Since the park was closed Tuesday through Thursday Nights, I told the participants I will extend the workshop 1 night at no additional cost to give us a shot at getting into Arches for at least one night. I made arrangements in Canyonlands and at Dead Horse State Park to host our night sky activities while Arches was closed and it worked out just beautifully.
Setting up for the first night shoot!
Our first night out was cold and windy, but we had crystal clear skies which what we all hope for as night sky shooters. I personally do not mind some clouds or "weather" in the shots, it makes it more interesting at times and gives it another dimension. This is Wison Arch, located about 25 miles south of Moab and outside of Arches National Park. When I heard of the closures, I knew this Arch would be a great replacement for some of the spots in Arches that we could not get to because of the nightly road closures.
After some time at Wilson Arch, we moved to a new location so we could get a wide variety of photos on the nights that we had clear skies. This is a short drive from Wilson Arch overlooking the Lasal Mountains while dawn begins to break the horizon. This is where we had some practice with panorama's in between the passing headlights from cars.
After capturing some panoramas, we waited patiently for Arches to open so we could catch the morning light in the park. This photo (above) is looking through the North Window with Turret Arch in the background.
You have to hike through the Arch and climb up the cliff (Above) on the other side in order to capture this series of shots with Turret Arch in the window
Looking Through the North Window at Sunrise
The photo above had a polarizer on it, which it didn't need one. When the sky is super blue bird and you are in high elevations, the polarizer can make the sky suffer. After I took this photos, I removed the polarizer since it was hurting the shots.
We took a quick swing by Turret Arch too!
Detail shot (above) of the hole (below)
Someone offered to take my photo so I couldn't resist.
Walking around with a big camera attracts attention at times. A couple of older ladies wanted a photo of them jumping in from of the Arch and asked me to take a photo for them. I always say yes, so I took some shots for them but didn't know other people were watching this happen. So I ended up taking pictures for 6 other people while they jumped in front of the Arch. It was pretty amusing.
After our morning hikes, we regrouped back up at Dead Horse Point for our Sunset and Night Sky Shoot which went very well. The photo above is from sunrise the following morning after a long night out under the stars.
We set up in Dead Horse after sunset and used some light painting to illuminate our foreground.
Here is the result from one of our light painting shots.
Each photo can, and usually does give you different results, that is unless you put your light source on a stand, don't move it and keep the light power the same.
It was a great night out with a few wispy clouds floating by at times. While everyone was shooting their panoramas I walked down the trail to find some other interesting shots to try out, and I found one standing on top of a cliff.
This panorama was made in Dead Horse State Park. You can see light pollution from the town of Moab, UT just east of the park.
Some very subtle light painting on the tree does enough to bring out the detail in the shadows while maintaining a natural look.
Earlier in the night we set up a 1hr 45min startrail. While our camera's worked, we relaxed, talked and enjoyed the beauty of the night sky. (Below) is one of the results from our Star Trail Shoot. Photo by workshop alumni Rob Akans Photography.
1 hour and 45 minute star trail taken on our 2nd night out by Workshop Alumni, Rob Akans Photography
We even enjoyed a faint comet... Can you see it in the photo above? The little blurry green fuzzball over the big dipper?
The Comet's closest approach was a few days later on April 1st, 2017
All in all it was a fantastic trip. Even though we stayed an extra night to try and get into the park on a Friday night, it was cloudy and rainy the entire time. We all managed to get some amazing shots in Arches, Canyonlands as well as in Dead Horse State Park.With a series of low pressure systems sipping down into the 4 corners regions, we were in and out of the weather the entire time, but we made it work. We saw alot locations during this workshops like Delicate Arch, Landscape Arch, Mesa Arch, any others. I had a lot of fun with everyone and can't wait to share some of their images with you in the near future.
This was the first leg of the trip... The 2nd leg consisted of Monument Valley, Lower Antelope Canyon, Upper Antelope Canyon and a few other places.. Those pics will be up under the Blog post for my "Desert Southwest Photography Workshop" soon!
Sunset at Dead Horse State Park
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BADWATER BASIN
i arrived a couple of days early to scout things out, see what has changed since last year and to look for new and interesting features to photograph with the group at night. My first stop was Badwater Basin (pictured above). I have been here several times and have never seen so much water out there. The salt deposits were hard and did not crumble , but mini rivers were flowing through the salt flat.
(Photo Above) Badwater Basin on February 27th, 2017. It shows a flowing stream of water running through the basin about 1 mile out from the parking lot. It made for some nice images. Totally new from my previous experiences there, that is why I love to revisit areas over and over again. You will always see the place in a different form and light.
JEEP AT NIGHT
We went out to the Racetrack Playa for one last run and had yet another incredible time there. The low's overnight went into the mid- upper 20's. The elevation is about 3,600 feet above sea level. There is a campground a couple miles south of the Racetrack where you can camp. DO NOT drive on the Racetrack with a vehicle at any point and please do not walk on the playa if the surface if it is wet. You will seriously damage its beauty for many many years.
FOOTPRINTS ON THE RACETRACK
California has been getting some much needed rain and snow. Maybe too much in some spots, but the desert does get it rain. Death Valley typically sees most of its rain during the winter months from November to February. The Racetrack itself was completely dry when I arrived except for one small portion near the parking area. Everyone should practice a (Leave No Trace) mentality where you leave things they way you found them. This is obviously a good example of someone who does not have enough respect for nature to be out here in the first place just to leave footprints all over the place.
RACETRACK PLAYA | DETAIL SHOT
The photo above was taken at the Racetrack, a detail shot of the surface. The color temperature has a very cool blue hue to it because of two reasons. First, it had to do with my color temperature setting and also the fact that I was the shadpws during the blue hour. The color of the surface itself is really a tanish color. I would have had to adjust my color balance from 5200k to 8000k to match the true color of the racetrack as you will see in the next photo.
MOVING ROCKS | RACETRACK PLAYA
This image was taken before the sunset over the mountains to my west. Sunlight was still hitting the playa at this point. It was very hard to find some good rocks with trails this time. It all had to do with people coming and taking the rocks from the Racetrack. We would see a track without a rock at the end numerous times. It was very frustrating because I wanted to revisit some rocks I had photographed in years past. This needs to stop before we end up trashing yet another magical place. With that said, we did see other moving rocks and a few nice ones at that.
SISTER & STARS
The photo above is a single exposure taken on February 28th, 2017 while the slender crescent moon was setting in the western sky with Venus close to its side.
(Photo Above) At the Racetrack taking pictures of the Zodiac Light and the Milky Way!
ZODIAC LIGHT
(Above) Zodiacal Light from the Racetrack Playa | February 28th, 2017
STAR TRAILS AT THE RACETRACK
Doing some longer exposures at the Racetrack with the North Star for a nice "Pinwheel" effect.
Making a quick stop for a photo op!
RACETRACK REFLECTIONS
Reflections in the ice. When the Sun went down at the Racetrack the temps dropped quickly and ice eventually formed here overnight. It made for a few interesting shots before the official workshop began the following night.
The first night of the workshop we spent capturing some nice still images as well as star trails. We saw numerous meteors the first night including a couple fireballs. The participants camera's were set up facing north to capture the "Pinwheel" Star Trail at a favorite location of mine.
A camera running a long exposure for "Pin wheel" Star Trails.
This is the result of a 45 minute star trail. A car drove by during the exposure as seen streaking through the photo. We used the setting moon to illuminate our foreground will giving us a lot of stars in our exposure.
Longer star trails like this one needs 1 - 2 hours to produce results like this. I had a nice reflection in the water too.
Moonset Panorama over Badwater Basin
After the night shoot we met back up to shoot the Milky Way rise above the horizon and catch Sunrise at Zabriskie Point. (Photo Above)
ZABRISKIE POINT AND TELESCOPE PEAK
Zabriskie Point with a Snow Capped Telescope Peak in the background (Photo Above)
Taking in the beauty of the morning light in Death Valley
Getting some reflection shots with the Milky Way in Death Valley for our 2ns Milky Way Shoot. I have never seen this much water in Badwater Basin in my life! Some spots were 3" - 6" deep. It was an incredible sight and it made for some one of kind photo ops for the group. Standing in freezing cold water for 3 hours wasn't the most ideal thing to do for most people, but we managed and pulled away with a huge score and kudos to everyone for sticking in there!
One of my few photos from that night at Badwater Basin with the Milky Way.
All in all, the workshop was a huge success and I met some great people and had an amazing time with everyone. You can see a attendee enjoying the beauty of this park and the night sky just before the dawn started to break.
KISS OF DEATH
Here is a panoramic of the Milky way over Badwater Basin with the Amargosa Range in the background. The light pollution from Los Angeles (a 280 mile drive south) can easily be seen here. It's low on the horizon but it is there. It also adds an interesting splash of color to to photograph. There are very few times I welcome light pollution, this was one of those time. I call this photo (Kiss of Death) because the reflection of the mountains in Death Valley are shaped like a pair of lips. It's like the desert was trying to kiss me.
We ended the workshop on a high note with an incredible sunset and a nice warm breakfast the final morning. Again, I thank all of the workshop participants who came out and spent time with me in one of my favorite places. It was a pleasure meeting you and I hope you have as much fun with me as I did with you. I look forward to returning again in 2018 too! If you are interested in joining me next year, shoot me an email, and follow with 2018 workshop schedule. It will be update in May 2017.
#NeverStopExploring
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We started off the workshop with some bad weather which is never a fun thing. I typically have a headache all week long leading up to a workshop simply because I am checking the weather forecasts every hour. We all want perfect conditions and most of the time we get them. Sometimes we do not.
I arrived at our meeting location only to find myself in a cloud, literally. Our elevation here is over 3,500 feet, so we are no longer in fog, but in the clouds. The weather can change rapidly in the mountains, that goes for precipitation, winds, and temperature. After speaking with the group members, I decided to cancel the first night. It's a very tough decision to make, but it ended up to be the right one.
I went to an overlook and said goodnight to my wife and to check the forecast again and with tons of clouds and more rain on the way, I felt comfortable with the decision I made for the group. Forty Five minutes later then rain started back up again just minutes after I set up my tent. It then rained until midnight, then off and on the rest of the night ending around 4:00 am. The winds picked up overnight to increasing from 20 mph to over 50 mph. The photo above is my campfire burning in the rain at Big Meadows Campground taken from inside my car.
The winds were gusting over 50 mph at times overnight and the temp's were in the mid 30's Friday night. I'm glad I brought my Marmot tent and zero degree mummy bag, without it I would have had some terrible sleep. I woke up early, and ventured out to the Meadow. The clouds were still pretty thick and the Sun didn't peak out until about 9:00 am. The clouds were dense which created some nice contrast at times in the western sky.
This tree has always been a staple for me in Shenandoah. I discovered it in the late 1990's while on a camping trip with some friends. I was fresh out of high school and determined to explore the US and this park was one of my first real National Park experiences. After 20 years of visiting the park, this was the first year I saw the tree toppled over. The last time I was here was about 2 years ago, and the tree was still standing.
Just walking around.
We all met back up Saturday Noontime for a hike in Big Meadows to examine our shooting locations for the night session. Scouting out your locations ahead of time during the day helps you visualize your shots for at night. This makes you much more productive when out at night. You know what you wants, where you want it, and when need to shoot. It takes a little planning and a little research, but your efforts typically pay off nicely.
The clouds were moving quickly and changing the color of the landscape by the minute. One of my favorite things about Shenandoah National Park is that every trip is different, and the park offers something new and unique each time I visit. This time I saw some new weather in the form of 50 mph wind gusts which last 48 hours, participants got a few nice shots of double rainbows over fall colors which is a rare treat as well! We also had wind chills in the teens and 20's all weekend which made us all realize that winter was on its way. It was hard to remember the 70 degree and 80 degree weather we had the week before the workshop started. The warm weather slowed down the color progression which was good in some cases and bad in others.
The above shot is just me playing around with dragging the shutter and moving the camera while I take the picture.. Try it, you can get some interesting results shooting around 1/10 sec.
After our daytime hike and photo sessions, we met back up at sunset. With the winds still whipping up to 40 and 50 mph, we set our tripod low and widened the legs to eliminate camera shake from the wind. It worked very well too. We also had a nice magenta / purple glow during sunset which was very unique as well. I typically will see that purple hue in the southern coastal areas, but not often up north.
We took a short break in our cars to warm up and get ready for the first night shoot location. After getting everyone dialed in, we began to use some light painting techniques to illuminate the foreground. My flashlight broke the day before the workshop and I couldn't get a replacement in time, so I used a participant's flashlight and diffused the light / color corrected it with a plastic trash bag from Wawa ( an awesome store) Sometimes things happen on the road and it was a nice way to show everyone how to improvise in the field. It was super windy that night and light painting didn't seem like a great option for some of the shots so I brought out my off camera flash at times and used that to illuminate some shots, freezing that action, and not letting the wind blur the trees and grasses in the photos
We continued on to the next location and did more experimenting with light painting and got some nice shots here. This is the same tree we scouted out during our daytime hike ( pictured above)
It was hard to even see a cloud Saturday night, unlike Friday night, but around 10:30pm a few "wispy guys" started to pop up near the milky way which isn't a problem for me. I actually like how clouds can add to a photograph during the day and at night. Weather makes great shots, the more weather / nature in the photo the better!
We continued on to a few other spots and witnessed a lot of awesome meteors including one fireball around midnight.
Here is the group shot (-2) Taken at Big Meadows. I used a Nikon SB-800 Speedlight to taken this shot on my Nikon D4.
After a long night out in the cold, I caught up on some sleep and warming in my tent before heading back home Sunday morning. I had a great time seeing some workshop alumni and meeting some new friends. What a great group, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to meet them and share my passion for night sky photography during the NPS 100 year anniversary!
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Here is a just a few random photographs from our shoot.
Today was quite an insane day. A few storms developed south of the warm front in SE Pennsylvania and ignited some storms across York, Lancaster and Chester Counties in PA. This one particular storm was headed right for me with clear rotation and there was no severe thunderstorm warning or anything associated with it.
The above photo is the SuperRes Velocity screen capture of the storm entering Chester County, PA . No T-Storm or Tornado Warning but the storm is already rotating.
The Supercell is now 2 miles from me with a clear couplet signature due West of my position. The picture (below) is from ground View.
BELOW is the video of the Tornadic Storm spinning out of control! The funnel literally went directly over my head! Watch the video!
Tornadic Storm Unleashes Funnel Cloud Over My Head
Here are some other shots taken with my phone as the storm rolled in.
Some incredible weather and the 5th Tornado Warning in the last 7 days.
Stay Safe Out there!
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Enjoy!
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I have tons of time-lapse footage and never find the time to run through all of it. I decided to put a few together and make this short clip for you. Took me about 15-20 minutes from start to finish, enjoy!
Website | www.jeffberkes.com
Facebook | www.facebook.com/berkesphotography
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Check them out and I hope to see you there!
Workshops, Portfolio and Prints | www.jeffberkes.com
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SUPER TUSCAN LIGHTNING STORMFiano, Tuscany, Italy, 2014
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The photo above, was taken last night near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Comet Lovejoy (C/2014) Q2 is now easily visible with binoculars and with off the shelf consumer DSRL cameras.
Comet Lovejoy is rising in the southern sky a few hours after sunset. The best times to look are between 10pm and 2am. At this point, "Q2" is above the horizon and making it's way out of the lower levels of the sky where light pollution and hazy and obstruct your observations and imaging. If you are lucky enough to have dark skies in your backyard, you will not have to worry about that! Q2 is now in the constellation Columba moving into Lepus, just under the constellation Orion. Below is a finder chart.
Every night the Q2 will be positioned a little higher in the sky as it passes through the solar system. Mid January Q2 will be higher in the sky and possibly even brighter, we will have to see. The Moon will start to cause interference next week, so if you want to catch a glimpse I would do it this weekend. If you would like monitor the comet from home visit| The Sky Live | ( http://theskylive.com/c2014q2-info). Meanwhile, I hope that Q2 will look just as good or even better a month from now.
Some tips to see it and photograph it
- Sturdy Tripod
- DSLR and a lens between 50mm and 300mm
- Cable release to eliminate camera shake
- ISO 800 - 3200 , f/1.4 to f/4 @ 3"-30"
- If you want to eliminate star trails because you exposure is to long... increase your ISO and shorten your shutter speed.
- Take some test shots in the vicinity of the location of Q2
- Our camera will be able to see way more than us, so take those test shots and then check your LCD for a fuzzy little green ball
- Download Google Sky Map, It's FREE!! and will help you find any constellation or active meteor shower! Look between Columba and Lepus
Below is a photo of Comet Panstarrs in March of 2013. The comet got so bright that it could be seen in the sunset sky. Comets are unpredictable and I think that's is why I like them. Who knows what Q2 will do over the next month, I guess we will have to wait and see.
Comet Pan-Starrs and Telescope March 14th, 2013
I also had a chance to photograph some other beautiful objects like the Orion Nebula through the telescope. If you can't find the comet, you can always find Orion's Belt!
(Above) The Orion Nebula taken the same night through a telescope.
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ISLANDS IN AUTUMNNamed one of the "Best Space Pictures of 2011" by National Geographic Magazine.
The Orionids of October only produce around 20 meteors per hour, but some can be bright like this one over French Creek Sate Park, PA in 2011. The Geminids can produce between 60-120 meteors per hour under optimal view conditions at dark sky locations. Unlike most meteor showers this Geminids can be viewed just after sunset into Sunday morning.
The radiant (point of origin) will rise above the horizon shortly after sunset near the constellation Gemini. This is also the best time to look for earthgrazers. Earthgrazers are meteors which skim across the atmosphere leaving very long trails in the sky. As the radiant moves higher in the sky the meteors will appear shorter and faster. Think of it like skipping a rock across a lake. Skipping a rock across water will travel further than throwing it directly down into the water. Make Sense? I would start my observation by 6pm a hour after sunset.
(Picture Above) Geminid Meteor Shower in December 13th,2012. Their are five Geminid Meteors in this 60 minute exposure taken at French Creek State Park, PA. I started this picture around 7pm and it ended at about 8pm. Around 1am on December 14th, 2012, a fireball exploded directly overhead turning night into day and left a trail in the sky for several minutes, EPIC! You never know what you will see so I suggest making a night out of it. I usually stay up all night, because I never want to miss a meteor.
Here are a few tips to capture a Geminid with your digital camera!
1.) Have ALL of your batteries Fully Charged! Long exposures drain your battery much quicker,add the cold of winter and they will drain even faster, especially with older batteries.
2.) Use a sturdy Tripod and a cable release to minimize / eliminate camera shake.
3.) Shutter Speed | Between 15" - 30"second exposures
4.) ISO | I use the highest ISO my camera can be set at without sacrificing image quality. MY D70 was about 400 ISO, my D4 is about 3200ISO
5.) F/stop | Shooting at night we need to let is as much light as we can, so I tend to stick with F/1.8 - f/2.8... Depending on the consitions I may shoot F/4 sometimes.
6.) Focusing | can be tricky... set your lens to infinity or focus on a distant light or ever the brightest star/planet... When the moon rises you can use that a focus point for the sky. If you are trying to focus on the foreground use your flashlight to illuminate your focal point.
7.) Light Painting | I never use LED for light painting. The blue light kills the pictures and to my knowledge there isn't a White Balance setting for LED. Use a regular halogen flashlight.
8.) White Balance | This is personal preference. I have kind of fallen towards the bluer / cooler side of things.. Set you WB to Incandescent (Tungsten Lighting) If your camera has the manual WB setting try between 2900k and 3500k.. I have even found out using the fluorescent setting at night can add some magic... So my tip is.. once you get your exposure set, cycle through ALLL of the WB settings and see which one you like the most.
9.) Find a location away from city lights with a clear view of the sky, this is really increase your chances at witnessing them as well as capturing them with your camera!
Have fun and dress warm, Good Luck!
ONE NIGHTWashington State
ONE more TIP!!!
I have been shooting the night sky for 20 years now. You best chances to capturing these meteor is to NOT point directly at the radiant, but off to the side. If the Geminids rise in the east, I would aim my camera to the southeast or north / northeast... don't forget to look behind you, meteors are appear in any section of the sky.
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I left for Colorado in late September with above normal temperature's and warm sunny days. That quickly changed when a cold front clear the area while dumping snow in the high country. I slapped my GoPRO HERO3 on the truck for a few drives and this is one of them.
The Yankee Girl Mine was established in 1882 and used to produce gold, silver ore and copper. The mine produced an estimated $8 million dollars in it's time. Here is the drive to the top after a fresh coating of snow. The Yankee Girl Mine can be found near Ouray and Silverton, Colorado.
Thanks and hope you enjoy the video! #nofilter
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Thank for all of your support over the years, I wouldn't have been able to try and do what I love to do for as long as I have without you!
Portfolio and Prints: www.jeffberkes.com/portfolio
*** COUPON CODE: bday2014 ***
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Approaching Shelf Cloud - April 2014A severe thunderstorm warning was issue for penny sized hail, 60+mph winds. The storms were moving near 50mph with very interesting cloud formations.
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Have a safe winter everyone!
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The Geminid Meteor Shower is one of the best meteor showers of the year! It happens in the evening instead of in the middle of the night or pre dawn skies. This meteor shower lasts all night and comes with over 100 meteor per hour from dark sky sites. Unfortunately the Moon will brighten up the skies for the first half of the night, but late at night the moon will set giving everyone a few hours before dawn to check out the show in a moonless sky! I counted nearly 100 last year and captured dozens of meteors.
To view the meteor shower go outside after dark on Friday the 13th, 2013 (don't be scared) Jason will not come out of the woods! You will want to look east around 7pm for some earthgrazing meteors. After around 9pm you will be able to see meteor's in any section of the sky, they will seem to trace back to one point in the sky near Gemini. I suggest facing south east or northeast. More meteor are typically seen off to the edges of the radiant.
Geminids are already visible but rates are low, each passing day should bring a little more action and on December 13th into the morning of the 14th, the Geminids will peak with up to 120 meteor an hour, sit back, look up and enjoy!!!
Sunday Morning an Annular / Hybrid Solar Eclipse will be visible at sunrise along the east coast of the United States. What is an annular eclipse? An Annular Solar Eclipse is when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun, but the Lunar Disc isn't large enough to cover the entire surface of the Sun. As shown below. We will not see the entire eclipse as it favors the Atlantic Ocean and western Africa. There will be some neat photo ops with a "bite" taken out of the Sun. A few sunspots will also be peppering the Sun's Surface.
This eclipse is of the rare hybrid variety— that is, it will be an annular eclipse along the very first 15 seconds of its track before transitioning to a total as the Moon’s shadow sweeps just close enough to the Earth to cover the disk of the Sun along the remainder of its track. For the people along the East coast of the United States we should be able to view it at sunrise low in the eastern sky.
How rare are hybrid solar eclipse? Of the 11,898 solar eclipses listed over a 5,000 year span from 1999 BC to 3000 AD in Fred Espenak’s Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses, only 569, or 4.8% are hybrids. - Universe Today.
HOW TO SAFELY VIEW AND PHOTOGRAPH THE ECLIPSE
The first thing you need is q pair of solar glasses. Never look directly at the sun or through your camera without protective eyewear or filters, if you do not obey this rule, you can go blind. Your eye feels no pain when it gets damaged by the Sun's powerful rays as you may not feel the effects until hours after the event. Here is what you need to safely view / photograph the eclipse. (make sure there are no holes, tears or rips in any of your filters)
1. Solar Sunglasses - for viewing with your eyes
2. Welders glass - will also be ok to view an eclipse through
3. Solar Filter - To photograph the Eclipse (Stacking polarizers and ND filters won't cut it!)
4. Find an unobstructed view of the eastern horizon at sunrise
5. GET UP EARLY! - Find your viewing area and get there before sunrise
6. Can't do any of this without clear skies!
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In May 2012, I photographed the Annular Eclipse "Ring of Fire" Over The Iconic Horseshoe Bend in Northern Arizona. Hundreds of people showed up with everything from small point and shoot cameras to some super large telescopes. One person almost fell off the 1,000ft cliff while trying to get find a "good spot" to snap a picture from using a point and shoot. Be careful no matter where you are! My tripods are in the bottom right closest to the edge you two other awesome guys who came out for the workshop tour!
ABOVE: This is what an Annular Eclipse looks like during maximum Eclipse... This is why they call it the Ring of Fire"
BELOW: Just before maximum Eclipse beading is seen on SE side of the Sun.
WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE FOR US SUNDAY MORNING???
Here is a diagram showing the possible view across the East Coast of the US
We are on the back side of the Eclipse so we will not see the entire eclipse.. For us in the United States, We will have to wait for 2017 when a Total Eclipse will race all the way across the Country, but Sunday morning will be a little treat for the East Coast.
If you live in Africa, you will get the best viewing, unless you are in a boat in the Atlantic Ocean. Hope this helps and remember to set your clocks back Saturday night and be super careful when looking at the Sun!
The Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye only during the few brief seconds or minutes of a total solar eclipse. Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, and the partial phases of total eclipses are never safe to watch without taking special precautions. Even when 99% of the Sun's surface is obscured during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the remaining photospheric crescent is intensely bright and cannot be viewed safely without eye protection [Chou, 1981; Marsh, 1982]. Do not attempt to observe the partial or annular phases of any eclipse with the naked eye. Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness!
Generally, the same equipment, techniques and precautions used to observe the Sun outside of eclipse are required for annular eclipses and the partial phases of total eclipses [Reynolds & Sweetsir, 1995; Pasachoff & Covington, 1993; Pasachoff & Menzel, 1992; Sherrod, 1981]. The safest and most inexpensive of these methods is by projection, in which a pinhole or small opening is used to cast the image of the Sun on a screen placed a half-meter or more beyond the opening. Projected images of the Sun may even be seen on the ground in the small openings created by interlacing fingers, or in the dappled sunlight beneath a leafy tree. Binoculars can also be used to project a magnified image of the Sun on a white card, but you must avoid the temptation of using these instruments for direct viewing.
The Sun can be viewed directly only when using filters specifically designed for this purpose. Such filters usually have a thin layer of aluminum, chromium or silver deposited on their surfaces that attenuates ultraviolet, visible, and infrared energy. One of the most widely available filters for safe solar viewing is a number 14 welder's glass, available through welding supply outlets. More recently, aluminized mylar has become a popular, inexpensive alternative. Mylar can easily be cut with scissors and adapted to any kind of box or viewing device. A number of sources for solar filters are listed below. No filter is safe to use with any optical device (i.e. - telescope, binoculars, etc.) unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose. Experienced amateur and professional astronomers may also use one or two layers of completely exposed and fully developed black-and-white film, provided the film contains a silver emulsion. Since all developed color films lack silver, they are always unsafe for use in solar viewing.
Unsafe filters include color film, some non-silver black and white film, medical x-ray films with images on them, smoked glass, photographic neutral density filters and polarizing filters. Solar filters designed to thread into eyepieces which are often sold with inexpensive telescopes are also dangerous. They should not be used for viewing the Sun at any time since they often crack from overheating. Do not experiment with other filters unless you are certain that they are safe. Damage to the eyes comes predominantly from invisible infrared wavelengths. The fact that the Sun appears dark in a filter or that you feel no discomfort does not guarantee that your eyes are safe. Avoid all unnecessary risks. Your local planetarium or amateur astronomy club is a good source for additional information.
In spite of these precautions, the total phase of an eclipse can and should be viewed without any filters whatsoever. The naked eye view of totality is completely safe and is overwhelmingly awe-inspiring! - NASA
Enjoy!
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I have been racking up the miles on my car this spring traveling all over the eastern US in search of the darkest sky possible. I think I have found a winner but I still have some places to visit and shoot at. I wanted to post a photo from January 2013, Seaside Heights, Jet Star Roller Coaster.
