Dinosaur Night Sky

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

Dinosaur sculpture against a night sky, Anza-Borrego, California.

Dinosaur sculpture against a night sky, Anza-Borrego, California.

Last night I set up a couple of simultaneous time-lapses of the night sky here near Borrego Srings.  It was a perfect, warm, moonless night for such activity!

This is a single frame from one of the time-lapses.  This was shot on a moving 6 foot ramp made for just such purposes.  I had a second camera in a stationary position – so from the camera I have a time-lapse, and I can stack the images and make a long star trail image.  At some point I will probably do both, but don’t know that I will try them while working from a laptop on the road.

Empire Polo Club

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Photos, Travel 7 Comments

Players at the Empire Polo Club, Indio, California.

Players at the Empire Polo Club, Indio, California.

Last weekend we drove up to the Palm Springs area to visit a group of friends from Alaska.  We were looking for things to do when someone suggested we check out the polo games at the Empire Polo Club.  Admittedly, I know nothing about horses, and even less about polo, but I’m always game for a new experience.  Well, I’m glad we went – really was a fun way to spend some time in the sun!  Seeing the horses up close, running at full speeding, cutting, turning – really impressive.  And even better then seeing them up close was hearing them up close!  The sound of a group of horses running at full speed is really something – a dull thunder that really gets your attention.

Now I know what you might be thinking – Polo is only for the rich – and the Bentley parked out front only added to that impression.  And I’m sure playing polo takes a large investment in time and money – it’s not like you can just throw together an afternoon pickup game with your buddies.  But, to watch the polo games at the large, beautiful grounds at the Empire Polo Club was completely free.  Heck, they didn’t even charge for parking which is kind of standard procedure in California.  So if you find yourself in the area and looking for something different, check it out.

For the photo, I decided to use a slow exposure in part to hide a busy background, but also to help show the power and grace of these beautiful animals.  I varied my aperture to keep my shutter speed at around 1/15th to 1/30th of a second.  This image was with a Canon 7D and a 70-200 f/4 with a 2x converter set at 238mm.  The exposure was 1/15th of a second at f/45 and iso 200.

Since I was enjoying the day with friends I didn’t spend much time with photography – I would love to go back for some more serious photography.

Dry Lake – Anza Borrego Desert State Park

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 7 Comments

Dry lake bed at sunset, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Dry lake bed at sunset, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

As clouds started to form last night and it looked like it might be a good sunset – I headed to this dry lake bed knowing that it’s wonderful patterns would give me something interesting to work with along with the beautiful sky.

I haven’t posted here in a week – it took a bit longer to get situated then I expected as we dealt with a few issues that happen when a vehicle sits too long.  Things like batteries and tires are some of the items that don’t like to sit.  But, I should be back at it now!

Gift Suggestions for the Photographer

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

The headlight used by Janine to explore a mud cave in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California is just one of many gift suggestions.

The headlight used by Janine to explore a mud cave in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California is just one of many gift suggestions.

Last year I did a post on Christmas gift suggestions for the photographer.  I thought about writing a new one for this year, but realized I would be recommending the same items and that is would be easier to just link and remind everyone of last years blog post.

Well, there is one change I would make to last years recommendation and that is for my Anza-Borrego photo workshop which is no longer an option as it sold out some time ago.  But, I do have a little bit of room in one of my two Alaska bear photo tours – now that would be the ultimate Christmas gift!

Anza-Borrego Photography Workshop

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 1 Comment

An un-named cactus forest, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

An un-named cactus forest, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Well I have lots of new Hawaii photos to share, but realized I better mention my Anza-Borrego photography workshop before it is too late.  I know some people follow this blog to keep up on news items like photography workshops, and I couldn’t have this one fill before I even mentioned it here, so that is why I’m bring it up now.

I received my approval  and permits from California State Parks just before I left on this trip, and we are already down to just 2 spots remaining for the weekend workshop.  I’m limiting the total number to just 5 participants, and this winter I believe I will only do one weekend – in the past I have done two.  This beautiful garden off an un-marked road will be one of many places we will visit during the workshop.  To read more go to:  Anza-Borrego Photo Workshop / Tour.

Monday, I will be back to posting Hawaii photos!

Indian Head, Anza-Borrego

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

Wildflowers and Indian Head mountain, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Wildflowers and Indian Head mountain at sunrise, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

We have been working hard to edit, key-word and process the photos and videos from our winter / spring trip.  I would like to have this material completely processed so that I will have the time to hit the beautiful Alaska summer hard!  It is such a wonderful time of year here.

So in the mean time, I thought I would share a few new photos from this winter, images I hadn’t posted here on the blog before including this one from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

V-22 Osprey

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

V-22-Osprey, Ocotillo Wells, California.

V-22-Osprey, Ocotillo Wells, California.

I have heard plenty about this unique aircraft in the news over the years, but had never seen one in action.  This winter, as we were driving to a location to photograph the burrowing Owls, we were surprised to see one of these planes fly in and land at a remote dirt airstrip near Ocotillo Wells.  It was fascinating to see an airplane take off straight up into the air!  Then, as you can see in this photo, the engines slowly began to rotate forward until they were eventually facing straight ahead like a typical aircraft, and it flew off into the distance.  It was definitely one of those unexpected events I had to stop to photograph.

Ocotillo

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

An Ocotillo at sunrise in Borrego Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

An Ocotillo at sunrise in Borrego Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

In the almost 5 years I have been doing this blog, I must admit, the last couple of weeks have been about as inactive as I have ever been.  It may be that way for a few more weeks until summer hits here in Alaska as I try to get caught up.

Now that I have added some more tools to my bag of tricks, it seems like there is far more work to do when I get home.  Not only do we have to keyword and process photos like we did in the past, but now I’m spending a ton of time compiling time-lapses, muxing 3D clips and overcoming frustrating new challenges like removing flicker!

Our rule of thumb has always been that we don’t take off on another trip until the previous one is completely processed – so that is what I’m working on as hard as I can – but it just doesn’t make very interesting blog fodder.