Black Oystercatcher Haematopus bachmani
Among the mussel- and barnacle-covered rocks of the Pacific Coast lives this stout shorebird with a gleaming reddish bill, yellow eyes, and pink legs. Black Oystercatchers are fairly easy to find along rocky shores, jetties, and breakwaters. Look for shores that slope gently into the water or flat rocky reefs.
I had a lot of curious art lovers wanting to know if this lightning photo was real or digitally composed.
It is real. It is a single shot just as mother nature displayed it that frightful night.
Here is the story behind the photograph.
The date was August 16th, 2020. I arose from bed around 3:22am and saw lightning bolts along the river and the ocean. I was stunned because the type of lightning I normally sees is a complete white sky not individual bolts.
I had her astrophotography gear nearby from a night sky photo shoot a few days earlier. I was tempted to try to photograph the lightning and then realized the setting would be different then anything else she had done. So I went back to bed for about 5 minutes and got up again. I thought what was the worst that could happen? That the photos are over or under exposed.
I went to YouTube and search for Nick Page and Mike Mezeul who have done storm photography. I was looking for possible camera setting. I first tried her Sigma 14mm 1.8 Art lens which was too wide and the overhang on my deck in the photo. I changed to the Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art lens with my Nikon D850 and a Nikon MC-36A intervalometer. Settings were Aperture f/6.3 Shutter 20 seconds ISO 160. Took a few test shots and had a correct exposure. Set the intervalometer to take a photograph at theses setting every 2 seconds.
The rest is history. A few days later I was evacuated because of a fire that was started from this storm.
Photographer Francesca Scalpi's "Sand Dunes Under The Stars" is on display at the Art at the Source display at Corrick's Stationery & Gifts
and The Gallery at Corrick's
637 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
tel: 707.546.2424 - fax: 707.546.8750
Her work will be seen at AATS studio 19c with painters Mary J Ruggles and Andrea Cleall. Studio location: 3533 Deer Park Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95404.
The light painting on the tower is from passing cars. This is available in a 16x16 print.
My online Card Shop is now live. Each set contains 5 cards. The set is $30 with free shipping in the US. More cards will be added in the coming months.
The 4x6 photo is printed on Kodak Metallic photo paper. The emboss card and envelop paper stock is from Strathmore.
Outside of my studio is a tree that in the spring has red berries. Flocks of sparrows and robin’s come by to feast on them.
I am excited to announce that my "Dry Lightning Storm Over Goat Rock" was selected in the "Ecstasy: Breathtaking Beauty of Nature" International Juried Event.
In 1610, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei pointed his telescope to the night sky, discovering the four moons of Jupiter – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. In that same year, Galileo also discovered a strange oval surrounding Saturn, which later observations determined to be its rings. These discoveries changed how people understood the far reaches of our solar system.
Thirteen years later, in 1623, the solar system’s two giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, traveled together across the sky. Jupiter caught up to and passed Saturn, in an astronomical event known as a “Great Conjunction.”
Geminids Meteor Shower Goat Rock State Park. Compilation 9:11pm to 10:14pm. Facing towards Highway one by Goat Rock. The Ocean side had a thick marine layer.
