T.Msquared

T.Msquared

One thing I wanted to photograph this summer was the Milky Way. Willie and I planned an August trip to Yosemite to shoot the high country and it also turned out that we would be there for the height of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Perfect timing on our part We photographed sunset at Mono Lake and the Milky Way over Tioga Lake on our first evening.The clock read am by the time we got to sleep.

As soon as I woke up in the morning I knew something was wrong. I had no energy, I was having hot and cold flashes, my cough had gotten worse and my nose started to run like a faucet. I figured a good hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon would help. Nope. As the day progressed I realized I had come down with the flu. After several naps, some DayQuill and a hamburger I started to feel better. Willie and I hiked 9 miles to Upper Cathedral Lakes for sunset. Not so easy when you have the flu.

We finally made it over to Mono Lake to photograph the Perseid Meteor Shower and in 45 minutes I managed to captured 14 meteors streak through my composition. Satisfied that we had the photos we wanted we began to walk around Mono Lake trying to find some Tufas, salt formations created by the lake. The Milky Way positioned itself above these Tufas and we setup and started photographing. Right in the middle of one of my shots I giant fireball streaked through the sky Tufis, Milky Way, and Meteors — what more could I ask for (and thus T.Msquared: Tufa, Milky Way and Meteors)

Willie painted the Tufas with 2 flashlights while our cameras exposed for the Milky Way.

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED:
24mm, f/1.4, 15 sec, ISO 200

Aaron M Written by:

Aaron Meyers is a landscape and wedding photographer living in Silicon Valley, CA. His love of the outdoors makes for frequent forays into the Californian wilds, where he delights in the stunning vistas of Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, and the Pacific Coast.