On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen!
Okay, so maybe the Neowise comet wasn’t the actual Comet, but it was still an amazing sight. I’ve never shot a comet before and haven’t seen too many anyway. Yes, I’ve been around for Halley’s and Hale-Bopp but I wasn’t a photographer back then (amazingly in school at that point - man does time fly . . . like a comet apparently!).
So this is a short story. I knew I wanted to go a bit north, tracking the path of the Neowise to above the Northeastern Horizon. I also knew, going along Pyramid Highway, I could stop a few miles right before the reservation as that part of the highway essentially faces Northeast.
Backtracking to the previous day and evening (July 9th), I went to bed at 8:30 pm, a rather ludicrous time for myself, knowing that I was going to get up at around 3:00 am to get dressed and drive north. I was definitely groggy, but not so much if I went to bed at my usual time during this Covid-19-anxiety filled era, which could range from 10:30 - 1:30 am. But this time was somewhat easier since I had purpose for my early bedtime.
As the next day pre-dawned (definitely not the actual dawn!), I slowly put on my usual hiking pants, threw on a shirt and a jacket (it’d be around the mid 40’s to lower 50’s where I was going - ah Northern Nevada summers), grabbed a Red Bull I had bought the day before (I know, I shouldn’t drink Red Bulls, but to my credit, it was the sugar-free one?) and brought some snacks. I knew I’d get hungry after I was done so I had packed up some salami and cheese.
Off I went, with barely anyone on the road. A crisp, early July 10th morning. I also couldn’t believe it was already July 10th.
So it was a short drive, about 20-ish minutes before I pulled to the side of the road, especially after spotting the Neowise Comet rising gently in the North. It was actually more North than I had thought, but still visible over some distant landscape. I wanted an easy capture and this was about as easy as it could get.
During the whole time, not one vehicle had passed me on the road. It was, of course, 3:35-ish in the morning, but I expected at least one or two vehicles. But I didn’t mind. With the moon still pretty bright, it illuminated the landscape in a pale, mystical glow. It was peaceful and tranquil, a nice night. I knew that most photographers were heading to Tahoe to get a capture of Neowise (I still might do that), but that was just a little more than what I wanted to do at that point.
It was just night to be out in the desert.
A bonus, especially when out near Pyramid, are the howling coyotes once the sun started inching it’s way toward the horizon. It was around 4:30 am when I decided to head back. And yes, I did have my snack at that point as well.
I still might try another capture sometime in the next few weeks when the comet becomes visible in the evening sky. There’s a chance I’ll try a Milky Way capture along with a Neowise photograph as well.
Single exposure - edited with both Lightroom and Photoshop. Shot with a Canon 6D and 50mm prime.
Focal length - 50mm
ISO - 640
Shutter - 10 seconds
Aperture - f/1.8
