Chases » The City

March 18, 2012 Hanging Art in NYC!

Bill — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:53:28 +0000

A handful of my storm images are being displayed in a New York City gallery through April this year, thanks to Tempest guest Mark Dempsey and his friend, Bernard. Details for this display, which include images by Mark and Tempest Tours guests Andy Williams and Nadia Elfarnawani, are at this link.

I attended the reception for the gallery on Friday, March 10, and shot video for those who are interested or who are unable to attend. The youtube vid is here.

Below I have included the images by myself that appeared in the gallery. Naturally, small and large prints of these are available! Check with me (bill@stormbruiser.com) or Bernard at hangingart.org for info.

December 3, 2009 Amboy Under the Milky Way

Bill — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:00:45 +0000

Amboy, California, is a tiny town buried in the middle of the eastern Mojave Desert. It is on old U.S. 66, but when Interstate 40 was built in the 1970s, it missed the town by about 10 miles. There is now little reason to pass through Amboy, except for nostalgia’s sake, or to enjoy the blistering heat of summer by yourself, or to photograph the world-famous “Roy’s” sign.

As I approached Amboy at dusk on this clear and crisp evening, I was thinking that I might be able to get some cool shots of the moonrise behind the Roy’s sign. Moonrise was spectacular the day before, as the moon was full or just past full. While waiting for moonrise, I spent time shooting some wide-angle shots of the sign and the adjacent motel and cafe/convenience store. The sign did not have lights of its own, but was illuminated by a bright flood light near the gas pumps. With the camera on the tripod, my 10, 20, and 30 second exposures were picking up more and more stars. Soon, the Milky Way was in nearly full display! I cranked up the ISO to 800 to 1600, opened the aperture to 2.8 to 3.5, and shot 20 to 30-second exposures until the glow of the moon behind the nearby mountains became a nuisance. Those 20 or 30 minutes of very dark skies beneath the Roy’s sign were very cool! My moonrise shots wound up to be a little anti-climactic. That final image that looks like an annular eclipse of the moon is due to some fun and games in Photoshop.

December 2, 2009 Las Vegas at night

Bill — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:00:47 +0000

No, not Las Vegas, New Mexico…Las Vegas, Nevada. I drove to this fine city to store some of my 100-dollar bills inside of the Black Jack tables for safe keeping. But first, I played with my Canon 5D along the strip and at the “Fremont Street Experience” in downtown Las Vegas. The street is covered by a huge video screen, and a loud sound system keeps everyone entertained with non-stop music by Air Supply.

August 31, 2009 Los Angeles, CA wildfires

Bill — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:00:12 +0000

The wildfires in the mountains north of Los Angeles had been going for several days, and I finally had an afternoon and evening free this Monday to try to get some shots. The “Station” fire, in the San Gabriel Mountains near La Canada, La Crescenta, and Mount Wilson continued to rage on Monday afternoon. On the previous two afternoons, this fire had created impressive pyrocumulus clouds above the mountains as viewed from the San Fernando Valley (WSW of the fire). As I headed east on the Ventura Freeway around 5 p.m., I was looking to find a relatively close high point which would give me a good look at the convection above the fire. On the drive the pyrocumulus looked pretty good, and I snapped a couple of shots from Encino when the traffic on the 101 slowed. I decided to head north on the 405 towards the northern part of the San Fernando Valley, as I thought the view from that area might be a little better. But, as I neared the 118 Freeway in Granada Hills, the pyrocumulus cloud above the fire became obscured by smoke.

I called my friend Charlie B., who said the best overall views of the fire seemed to be from more distant locations. So, I went back south to the Santa Monica Mountains, a few miles south of the Ventura Freeway. With a suggestion from Charlie I found a high point above the Universal City area, with a great view of the San Gabriel Mountains to the north and northeast. It was about an hour before sunset, and the nice pyrocumulus cloud had dissipated for the most part, unfortunately. This was to the east-northeast, in the direction of Mount Wilson. However, a nice lenticular cloud formed at the top of the large smoke plume. Closer to me, to the northeast, several smaller “spot” fires burned in the San Gabriels. Some of these may have been backfires, intentionally set by firefighters. Regardless, the fires provided some interesting photography opportunities at sunset and dusk.

So, except for the first image, these were all taken above Studio City and Universal City, looking northeast (for the most part) above North Hollywood and Burbank. The major thoroughfare that stretches into the distance is Olive Ave., through Burbank.

Note: This Wednesday evening (Sept 2) I did a live phone interview with The Weather Channel, and they were nice enough to show my photos below! Thanks Weather Channel! Since my site will likely be viewed by some new folks, I need to note that the “comments” and “web site sign up” options on this web site are not activated. If you would like to say “hi”, you can reach me by e-mail at

bill@stormbruiser.com

At the bottom I have added several excellent images of the “Station” fire by Charles Bustamante, as viewed from the San Fernando area. The final image is a cumulonimbus over the Coachella Valley on September 5.

February 9, 2009 Los Angeles Skyline and San Gabriel Mountains snow

Bill — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:57:49 +0000

I only work at LAX once a month, but of late the days that I do work there wind up being rather interesting weatherwise. A weather system brought rain to L.A. and vicinity over the weekend, and on this Monday, a second, colder disturbance moved through during the daytime. This caused occasional storms and a thunderstorm or two primarily NW through E of LAX. Snow levels came down to about 3000 feet, and midday temperatures in the valley were only in the low 40s.

I had my cameras and tripod with me at LAX, and shot the usual plethora of airplane images. The clouds and showers obscured the mountains to the north and northeast for most of the day, though. By the time my shift was ending (at 3 p.m.), some heavier convection was moving east through the valleys to the north. It looked like this was the final wave of storms for the system, and there might be a chance that the clouds would clear in front of the mountains before sunset. I figured that this might be a good opportunity to get some very nice shots of the L.A. skyline in front of the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains. And, since I was in the LAX area, I was also near the Baldwin Hills, which affords a fabulous view of L.A. in front of the mountains! I had never been in or on the Baldwin Hills, but I managed to find a suitable viewpoint in Kenneth Hahn Park after driving around some on Jefferson and La Cienega.

After a cold winter storm such as the one on this day, visibilities and clarity in the L.A. basin are about as good as possible. The L.A. skyscapers, about 8 miles away, were sharp and distinct. But, clouds to my west shaded downtown, and clouds still obscured the mountains. I just had to be patient. The area clouds moved away for the most part after 45 minutes or so, the L.A. basin was filled with sunshine, and the clouds thinned in front of the mountains, too! This was perfect! Several other photographers stopped by during my two hours spent here…we didn’t have to say anything. This is just one more reason why we live in Los Angeles!