Hey Photographers... Calling all shutterbugs and photo fanatics...

[SteveCA]

is that the sound barrier being broken?

Ricardo,

Yes I think the cone forms just as the jet is flirting with the sound barrier. At least that is my understanding. I've only seen this happen that one time as the planes are not allowed to actually break the sound barrier during the air shows. too many windows in San Fran that may shatter. It was pretty cool as the cone would form, disappear and re appear again for very short periods of time.

[pcsb23]

Love that astro image Steve

[Discus-n00b]

Great photos! Love aircraft photos!

is that the sound barrier being broken?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vapor_cone These can form even at lower speeds if the conditions were right. The plane is basically forcing clouds out of the moist air. It would happen on high speed turns or going vertical and doesn't always just happen straight line. In the right conditions the faster they go the easier to create them. Really cool to see.

[SteveCA]

Thanks guys. I will post more when time permits. I am looking forward to having some nice Discus that I can photograph. It might be challenging though with a bare bottom tank....

[SteveCA]

Here is a photo of the final leg of the Americas Cup race from 2013. I went to the last 10 races and watched every Oracle win after being behind big time:Oracle Downwind 1920.jpg

A Photo of the Owens river near Lone Pine, CA:

Owens River 01 1200.jpg

[rickztahone]

Nice Steve. Have you considered a wide format for that last photo? It would look awesome. TFS

[SteveCA]

Nice Steve. Have you considered a wide format for that last photo? It would look awesome. TFS

By wide format do you mean 16 by 9 like our computer monitors?

[rickztahone]

By wide format do you mean 16 by 9 like our computer monitors?

Yeah, something along those lines. Possibly even wider like a pano almost.

[SteveCA]

This photo could be cropped wider, maybe to fill a 16 by 9 screen. But wider than that may degrade the composition. A panorama would have been interesting but i didnt shoot it that way.. Next time out, i may try that. Thanks for the idea!

[SMB2]

Love the lighting and the foreground grass, the cloud curves with the water curves.
I might play around with crops to get the tree a bit more off center.
Nice shot.

[SMB2]

Cold rainy/icy day here. Just playing with shots from a few weeks ago in Death Valley and Yosemite.
This is a three shot HDR with On One Glow filter.
A Joshua tree at sunset.

20150207_Death Valley Day 4_201910_1949_HDR.jpg

[SteveCA]

This thread got me motivated to process some shots that have been sitting in my computer for almost two years. Here is one from Mono Lake, CA. The shot was taken at 4:30am, 14mm, F2.8, 20 second exposure, ISO 6400 on a Nikon D3s with the Nikkor 14-24mm 2.8. I used Stellarium to figure out the best time and direction (compass) to capture this photo with the Milky way in the proper position. Stellarium (a free app) is great for pre-planning astro Photo shoots. It allows you to see exactly what the night sky will look like at a specific GPS coordinate, at a particular date and time of night.

Mono Lake Milky Way 02 1200.jpg

[SMB2]

Really neat shot. Looks otherworldly.

[brewmaster15]

Beautiful shots guys! Really stunning!
al

[rickztahone]

Hard to believe that is 6400 (not saying it isn't true, it is just unbelieveable that it is). What a great shot!