I chose to view the Great American Eclipse of 2017 from the Hamlin, KS cemetery. I was joined by my cousin Vandi and her husband Dewey. Vandi and I both have parents buried in the cemetery, as well as a couple of older generations. The weather was not great, and we had to retreat to our vehicles during a couple of showers. We were lucky enough to get some breaks in the clouds which allowed us to view the eclipse as it progressed. In the following images, those with a reddish tinge were taken through a solar filter. Blue tinged sun images were taken without a filter, using the clouds as a natural filter.
11:43 am, first look11:48 am11:49 am, the clouds thicken, a light shower passed by12:31 pm, the clouds break a little1246 pm, the clouds provide a natural filter12:59 pm, totality approaches13:03pm One minute apart, the difference as totality occurred is impressive1:05 pm, Vandi videoing the totality, rain showers in the distance
1:06 pm, looking to the north. During totality the horizon looks like a sunset. By 1:07 pm, daylight had returned.1:09 pm, our first look post totality1:11 pm, the clouds still act as a filter1:42 pm, back to the solar filter1:46 pm1:53 pm2:01 pm2:08 pm2:18 pm2:22 pm2:27 pm2:29 pm2:32 pm, the sun is whole again
Despite the persistent cloud cover, the whole experience was amazing. The darkness during totality needs to been seen to truly understand the phenomenon. I would have loved to have seen the sun at totality, with planets and stars visible, but that experience will have to for another eclipse (2024 and 2045 are the next two in the United States.)
I woke up around 4 am, and noticed some lightning to the west. After checking radar, I decided to head out to Cheyenne Bottoms. I hoped I had enough time to beat the storms, which I did, but it was close. The following photos follow the storm as it bore down on central Kansas.
4:37 am, looking south at the leading edge4:43 am, looking west. Stars are still visible above the clouds, but not for long.4:54 am, looking east. Venus is low on the left, the sliver moon punches through the clouds, and Orion can be seen below the moon and clouds.4:57 am, looking west. Hoisington shines bright along the horizon. A 13 second exposure created a wave like pattern in the fast moving storm.5:06 am, the storm builds. All of the lightning was within the clouds.5:09 am, the rain is coming. It started raining hard just after I took this photo.
There weren’t any visible cloud to ground lightning bolts as the storm approached, but there was plenty of lightning within the clouds.
I knew that the moon and Mercury would be fairly close together after sunset this night. I had a couple of thoughts of where to shoot, but once I saw the elevation of the two bodies, I had to quickly change plans. I drove out to the Laird elevator, west of Ness City, hoping that there would be a vantage point. The road just east of the elevator was perfect for this. The following series follows the moon as it set. After the moon “touched” the railing, I moved down the road a ways.. This allowed me to capture the moon between the elevators. I included one photo with Mercury; unfortunately the planet wasn’t in a good position most of the evening.
9:28 pm, ~ 1/2 hour post sunset9:40 pm9:41 pm9:42 pm9:44 pm9:45 pm9:48 pm9:50 pm9:50 pm, with Mercury in the upper left
I knew storms would be passing through Ness County overnight, and hoped that the clouds would still be around at sunrise. I went east of Ness County shortly before sunrise to a wheat field that hadn’t been cut. At first, I wasn’t that impressed with the potential for a good sunrise because the cloud cover didn’t look promising. However, there were some gaps, so I waited. In the following series of photos, I show how the sunrise evolved from 15 minutes before sunrise to 25 minutes after sunrise, changing from uninspiring to glorious in that 40 minute span. The last photo was taken a few minutes after that but facing west.
6:02 AM, 15 minutes before sunrise looking south east.6:06 AM, looking north east6:30 AM, 13 minutes after sunrise.6:32 AM6:35 AM6:36 AM6:37 AM6:38 AM6:41 AM6:42 AM6:47 AM, the storm passing to the west, with “storm light” lighting the foreground
The progression of the light beams was impressive and exciting to watch.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Several of these images are available for sale at ksimager.com .
The heavy fog that had set in the night before persisted until shortly after sunrise. I was heading back into town when the fog bow formed. It only lasted about 20 minutes, starting a little over 1/2 hour after sunrise. It took me a few minutes to find a good foreground to put in front of the fog bow. The first 2 photos include the inlet canal which feeds Cheyenne Bottoms.
Fog bow over the inlet canal at Cheyenne Bottoms.Fog bow at the inlet canal at Cheyenne Bottoms, just south of the first photo.
I went farther south to a windmill I like to photograph. The light wasn’t good as a batch of fog rolled by. The fog bow is barely visible.
Fog bow over windmill.
I figured this was the end of the fog bow. However a couple more miles south, the sun broke free. I found these round bales to use as a foreground. As I was photographing the fog bow, I heard a small flock of Canada Geese approaching. They flew right through the heart of the fog bow :).
Fog bow, round bales, and Canada Geese!!!
The fog bow again faded, so I headed back towards town once again, and once again it reformed very faintly in the last of the fog. I liked the lighting on the field and distant round bales. Afterwards, I realized that the fog bow was just in front of the trees. Look for the haziness at the edges of the image to see this.
Last of the fog bow.
The fog bow made the morning for me. The dawn and sunrise weren’t that great. I am not sure if I have seen a fog bow in Kansas before, though I did photograph one on vacation a couple of years ago.
I recently took the opportunity to visit western Kansas. My goal was to photograph Monument Rocks. I arrived at the Rocks in the late afternoon. The sky was mostly clear, and I eventually gave up on any chance of a great sunset. After doing some thinking, I decided to run up to Oakley and visit the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center. I knew the Center would be closed, and hoped that this would mean no crowds at the beautiful Buffalo Bill bronze statue. I wasn’t disappointed, and only encountered a couple of other people there.
After studying the intricate details in the sculpture for a little while, I started photographing it. My first few shots, including this one, were what I would consider a typical tourist type of photo.
Buffalo Bill bronze sculpture, Oakley Kansas
I then started experimenting with on camera flash. I used an add on flash on the top of my camera, since I knew the built in flash would not work. The next couple of photos combine the low evening natural light with the camera flash. This method created definition in the shadowed parts of the sculpture. I tried a standard multiple exposure HDR image, which created a much flatter image. While processing the close up image, I had to correct the color in the washed out areas lit by the flash. I don’t have colored filters for the flash, so I had to fix this in processing.
Buffalo Bill bronze sculpture, Oakley Kansas, natural light and flashBuffalo Bill bronze sculpture, Oakley Kansas, close up using natural light and flash
A few clouds lay low on the horizon at sunset.
Buffalo Bill bronze sculpture, Oakley Kansas, sunset
After sunset, I had to wait almost an hour before the sky was dark enough for the next series of images. Photographing the sculptures after dark was challenging due to multiple light sources. The parking lot light on the right was unavoidable, so I placed it behind the horse to block most of the light. This next image was taken an hour after sunset. The constellation Scorpius is visible above the bison. The three bright objects are, from top to bottom, the planets Saturn and Mars, and the star Antares.
Buffalo Bill bronze sculpture, Oakley Kansas, 9:21pm.
Over the next half hour, the sky continued to darken. By tracking the movement of Scorpius, I knew where the Milky Way was located. The Milky Way was not visible to the naked eye. During processing, I was able to bring out the details of the Milky Way, showing how much beauty is lost in the glare of light pollution. I merged 5 horizontal photos to capture this view of the Milky Way.
Buffalo Bill bronze sculpture and Milky Way, Oakley Kansas, 9:50pm.
I noticed that the Big Dipper was aligned nicely over the sculpture. During processing, I enhanced the stars of the constellation slightly, bringing them closer to what they looked like in person.
Buffalo Bill bronze sculpture and the Big Dipper, Oakley Kansas, 9:56pm.
I shot one last photo on a whim, showing the town of Oakley. The lights of town created multiple lens flares.
Buffalo Bill bronze sculpture, Oakley Kansas, 10:03pm.
I highly recommend a trip to Oakley to visit the Center and to view the sculpture. Artist Charlie Norton created the sculpture, imbuing it with incredible detail throughout the piece. More information on the sculpture, as well as a link to Charlie’s website, can be found on this page.
Afterwards, I went back to Monument Rocks. I had permission to be there after dark. Unfortunately, heavy clouds rolled in, and I didn’t capture anything worth keeping. Even though I didn’t bring home any new images of the Rocks, I still enjoyed the visit.
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June 3, 2016, Great Bend, KS. It was a beautiful evening, though storms were brewing to the north. I was shooting the Great Bend Boom vs Topeka Train Robbers game. Both teams are part of the Pecos League, a pro baseball league. I was using a long lens to capture the action on the field. My daughter was using a second camera with a shorter but wider lens. The storm clouds moved in just before sunset; we received a few drops of rain but heavier rain was apparent to the north. The clouds were mammatus clouds. The setting sun provided some light from the west. Anti-crepuscular rays provided amazing light from the east. When the clouds were overhead, I swapped lenses with my daughter and started photographing the stunning clouds. Each of the images below was created from 3 or 4 horizontal images; the clouds were directly overhead and this was the only way to capture the whole scene with the gear I had in hand. The whole show only lasted about 15 minutes.
The beginning of the light show.
Over the grandstand.
End of the show. The light faded quickly at this point.
It was an incredible sight watching the clouds glow with light from both directions. Unfortunately, the Boom lost.
May 26, 2016 brought another round of storms across Kansas. Around 7:30pm, an enormous shelf cloud appeared just west of Great Bend, stretching from the southwest to the northeast. I managed to get ahead of the cloud, and chose to photograph it over the windmill.
Shelf cloud and windmill, 7:56pm.Shelf cloud and windmill, 7:59pm.Closeup, 8:00pm.
I watched the shelf cloud slowly approach. The winds picked up, and lightning became common. Most of the lightning was hidden behind the approaching rain. Without the lightning, the clouds were dark; with lightning the amazing structure and colors were revealed.
Driving rain hit a couple minutes after the above image. I headed back into town. I caught the second half of the Great Bend City Band concert; my step-daughter plays in the band. Afterwards, I went to Stone Sandpit to photograph the incoming storms. The lightning show was good, but I had a hard time keeping the water off of my lens.
Each of the above three images are single 8 second exposures. The storms continued into the early hours of the morning, though I didn’t stay out that late.
Storms rolled across western Kansas the evening and night of May 24. This outbreak spawned numerous tornadoes around Dodge City and other areas in the western half of the state. After the night was over, I measured almost 3″ of rain in Great Bend, but no tornadoes. I captured the following series of photographs at Stone Sandpit, looking west/northwest as a storm approached just after midnight.
Thanks for stopping by,
Rob Graham
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Great Bend, Kansas is home to the Great Bend Boom, a professional baseball team in the Pecos League. This is the first season for the Boom. The Boom opened the season on 5/19, which was a chilly, wet evening. The team rallied in the 8th for a come from behind victory. The weather the next night was much nicer, and the team took an early lead on their way to a second victory. I have photographed both games. Here are a few of the highlights from both nights.
Ceremonial first pitch by Gary Pinkall
The Salina left fielder and the outfield spectators watch the first home run of the season.Look at the chair in the lower left. The first home run hit that chair and I was lucky enough to capture the moment.
Home run #2 on Friday night for Darryl Baca. I managed to capture the ball just he hit it.Celebrating the win on Friday.
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