Night Sky and Milky Way over the Mojave Desert, Fort Irwin California. December 3, 2013. 10:05 pm.

My favorite photo for this date was taken in the Mojave Desert, about two miles southwest of Fort Irwin California. The photo was taken looking northwest. The Andromeda Galaxy is directly over the power poles about half way up the photo. The Pleiades are at the upper left corner of the photograph.

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains looking north. January 3, 2014.

This is my second favorite photo for todeay’s date. We were flying to California for a late Christmas with family. Before I took my seat when I got on the plane in Columbus, I asked the captain if we would be flying north or south of Pueblo Colorado. That would determine which side of the plane I would sit on.

Most captains are surprised at the question, so I always tell them I want to know for photography reasons.

I love Southwest for several reasons, and one of them is to be able to choose a seat on a side of the plane that is best for what I want to photograph. For example, whenever I fly out of Las Vegas and we take off heading into the prevailing westerlies, I always sit on the right side of the plane (watch for my January 4th article in this series).

On the Columbus to Las Vegas leg of our trip, if the plane flies north of Pueblo I sit on the left side of the plane because the Sangre de Cristo mountains will on the left side of the plane (to the south). If the plane flies south of Pueblo I sit on the right side of the plane because the Sangre de Cristo mountains will be on the right (to the north), as was the case with this photo.

I was also lucky enough to have an uncrazed window (the tiny little crazing marks play havoc with photography), and the sun was nice and bright on the mountains. The air was cold and dry so there weren’t a lot of particles in the air to soften the view. At a cruising altitude of 39,000 feet the Sangre de Cristos are still 15,000 feet from the plane so clear air is critical. Most days you don’t get air this clear, even if it looks bright and sunny out.

Everything worked out great for nice crisp photos.

Links

Series: Favorite Photos by Date – all about this series