It was a pleasant evening in Sedona watching thunderstorms as the sun sank lower in the western sky. It was mostly clear in that direction allowing sunlight to illuminate storms in the east. This is one of my favorite setups: clear in the west and stormy in the east.
Early evening sunlight illuminates thunderstorms and Cathedral Rock in Sedona.Early evening sunlight illuminates thunderstorms.Lightning from a distant storm after sunset.Lightning from a distant storm after sunset.
The setting sun produced wonderful pastel colors on the clouds and occasionally illuminated the rock spires and buttresses in the middle distance. And after sunset, distant storms showed large anvils along with occasional bolts of lightning.
Two recent trips to different sections of the Arizona Trail (AZT) resulted in these wildflower photographs. First, we have a beautiful pincushion cactus seen along the section of the AZT south of Pine Grove Campground on Lake Mary Road. We were on our mountain bikes and as we passed then in the morning the flowers were closed. On our return a few hours later, the flowers were wide open and beckoned for us to stop and admire them for a few minutes.
Pincushion cactus seen along the Arizona Trail.Pincushion cactus with a bee.
Next, we have wild iris on the section of the AZT near Snowbowl Road. Many of the iris that day were already starting to wilt and most had only pale colors. This one had such vibrant colors that it was worth stopping in the middle of our trail run to grab a few photos.
Wild iris along the Arizona Trail.
We’re still in the midst of our dry period with the North American Monsoon season still at least a month away. Once that starts, wildflowers should blossom everywhere.
As mentioned in the previous post, the planets Venus and Mercury passed very close to each other in the evening twilight sky a few nights ago. In fact, this conjuction is the closest conjunction of these two planets until 2033. I chose to photograph the two planets the night before closest approach as I was interested in getting a bit of separation of the two in both the sky and their reflections in the water.
Venus and Mercury in evening twilight (2025 MST 27 May 2021).Venus and Mercury in evening twilight (2037 MST 27 May 2021).
The first image was taken at 2025 MST 27 May 2021 with an 85mm focal length. The second image was taken a short time later at 2035 MST with a focal length of 120mm.
In the first image, there is a very nice and long reflection of Venus in the water; the reflection of Mercury is also present but is faint and diffuse. In the second image, the planets were just a few minutes away from dropping below the ridge to the northwest. In this image, the reflections of both planets are easily seen.
The weather cooperated nicely with light winds allowing reflections on the smooth water of Upper Lake Mary.
Yesterday (12 May 2021) provided an opportunity to view the thin crescent Moon very close to the planet Venus. Also visible in the evening twilight sky was Mercury higher above the pair.
For a few months each year, it is possible to be located so that the setting of the 1-day old crescent Moon aligns along the length of Upper Lake Mary. This allows for a long fetch of water in which to get reflections of the Moon and planets. Of course, this only works if it is not windy and spring is our windy season. So it was very nice to have both clear skies and very light winds for this event.
Moon, Venus, and Mercury in the evening sky.
In the above image the crescent Moon is just slightly above and to the left of Venus. Near the top center of the image is Mercury. Venus is still rising higher in the sky each day while Mercury is dropping lower. Later this month they will pass by each other with ~0.4° of separation. That should be another interesting event to photograph.
The Moon and Venus during evening twilight.
Two days earlier there will be a total Lunar eclipse taking place in the pre-dawn hours.
