Starry, Snowy Night

Snowy pre-dawn scene outside of Kneeland, Humboldt County, CA. February 21, 2018.

Snowy pre-dawn scene outside of Kneeland, Humboldt County, CA. February 21, 2018. [Panorama by David Wilson]  Click the photo to enlarge.

At 3:30 Wednesday morning, photographer David Wilson thought about going back to sleep but, he said, “[A] voice said to me from inside, ‘If you don’t go out, you won’t bring anything back.'”  So, instead of rolling over, he rolled out of bed and trudged outside in the cold. He took a series of stills that he stitched together into what he said was a 360º view outside of Kneeland, Humboldt County, CA. at 5:00 a.m.

Wilson said he took the panorama in “a series of vertical stills, with a 60º rotation between each shot. [The photo above] was the composition I found most pleasing,” he explained.  In the description below, Wilson begins delineating what he saw. He said, he starts at the southeast on the right, and ends approximately West on the left side.

I’m not sure what outpost that Blue Glow on the left might be. Coming from the right, which was to my SE, the first orange/yellow glow is the Kneeland Airport just to the west or northwest of me. Continuing left, the faint glow behind that lone oak is a homestead. Now we’re looking northward, and the Blue Glow is the next glow, and being the first glow to the far north, maybe it’s Blue Lake? Then continuing left, the yellow glows must be McKinleyville and Arcata. Eureka is just out of view past the left edge.

 

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25 Comments
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Hick
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Hick
6 years ago

Kneeland is always beautiful!

Joanne wilson
Guest
Joanne wilson
6 years ago

Fantastic shot! Way to go, Dave!

Cowabunga
Guest
Cowabunga
6 years ago

Nice picture!

Gypsy Rose
Guest
Gypsy Rose
6 years ago

My God David the Photo is so beautiful. Thank God for people like you that can find beauty and show it to other people. Thank you so much.

KYM WRIGHT
Guest
6 years ago

Thanks for going out in the cold and sharing with us your beautiful view!

Anon Forrest
Guest
6 years ago

Perfect picture for a 1,000 piece puzzle!

Marritt
Guest
Marritt
6 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

That’s a great idea!

David Wilson
Guest
David Wilson
6 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

I like it!

K H
Guest
K H
6 years ago

Wow, this is an excellent set of shots!! David Wilson, your photography skills blow me away!! Thank you so much for sharing!

Carol
Guest
Carol
6 years ago

Absolutely lovely! Thank you for sharing.

Brian
Guest
Brian
6 years ago

Super incredible photo. Thanks for sharing.

David Wilson
Guest
David Wilson
6 years ago

I hope this isn’t a repeat post, but I thought I posted this morning, and I don’t see it. (probably user error…)

Thank you for sharing this, Kym Kemp, and thank you everyone for your kind and supportive words. It’s a great pleasure to share these things. One of those voices is always in there saying, “Psst. Hey. Let’s go make another one and share it.”
“But sometimes a body needs sleep!”
“Well, if you don’t go out, you won’t bring anything back.”
“You always say that.”

If you click the photo at the top, or these, they get larger.

I’ll attach a pair of photos from that spot that I took while watching the Geminid Meteors with my son last December 13, 2017. The single silhouette is me, and then the double is both of us. Since I’d been here back in December, I knew the spot, the rise in the land as the road rounds that curve, and which way it was facing.

I use an app called Sky Guide to tell me where in the sky celestial things will be, and when. I can look to see what will be visible tonight, next year, or last year, at any time of the day. Using that app, I knew that the Galactic Core of the Milky Way — the part with the greatest detail, contrast and color — would be rising low over the eastern horizon this time of year starting after 03:00. (Where it is at what time is different throughout the year).

Thank goodness I’d been there in December, because from that I knew it was going to be the perfect spot to see the Milky Way before dawn began brightening the east. From my memory and what the app said, it looked like the Milky Way was going to be rising at a low angle above the horizon where the road made that turn. My weather site said the sky cover would be less than 40% that morning, and that there’d be a little snow that night to add to what remained from the previous days. When I got there it was perfect, one of those beautiful gifts that keep coming my way. You can see that night’s snowfall as a thin layer on the road.

I recommend that app for anyone who wants to know what star is what in the sky, where the Milky Way is, which satellites are flying by, the names of other stellar phenomenon — on any date. It uses the phone’s compass to know which way you’re facing, so just point the phone up at the sky and it’ll show you on the screen what you’re looking at. You can speed it up, slow it down, and put it in reverse to watch things slide across the sky. It really helps me. Another good one is called Photo Pills, which is geared more toward photographers than casual sky gazers. But I use Sky Guide most often.

Courtney
Guest
Courtney
6 years ago
Reply to  David Wilson

David wilson do you sell your photos? This is beautiful and I’d love to have a copy to put up in my home. 🙂

Julia
Guest
Julia
6 years ago
Reply to  Courtney

Same!

David Wilson
Guest
David Wilson
6 years ago
Reply to  Courtney

Yes! Some of my photos can be sold (some can’t). Thank you for asking! I feel awkward discussing it on Kym’s site though. But I’d be happy to strike up an email conversation. To keep that info private-ish, my website http://mindscapefx.com has a contact form. If you use that once, then we can do regular emails. I hope that’s ok. Thanks again!

David Wilson
Guest
David Wilson
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Thank you, Kym, patron of the Arts 🙂

Nice pic!
Guest
Nice pic!
6 years ago

Gasp!

Wondering
Guest
Wondering
6 years ago

Absolutely stunning photo. ❤

Onceler
Guest
Onceler
6 years ago

No, it’s Blue Lake/Korbel. However, had Dave been either 1/4 mile east or west of his location looking in the same direction, this beautiful photo would have been ruined by the ridiculous lit up grows that succeeded the notorious Michael Wilde scene, or by the plastic strewn mess at the top of Fickle Hill Road. Looking forward to continued market trends to speed the shift towards more sustainable, less impactful production in more suitable locations.

z
Guest
z
6 years ago

Gorgeous! ! Thanks for uploading it for us! !

Jac
Guest
Jac
6 years ago

Thank you for bringing this back David, and thank you Kym for sharing it with us.

David Wilson
Guest
David Wilson
6 years ago

Thank you again, everybody, it’s much appreciated. I am so fortunate to have found this way to express creativity, and I love doing it for that reason. But also I love that it’s appreciated. It all keeps it going around and coming around.

Awesomeness.
Guest
Awesomeness.
6 years ago

Friggen’ AWESOME!!! Thank you, & keep it up.

Robert
Guest
Robert
6 years ago

Spyrock rd.