Scientists were a bit surprised, it seems, when the comet Neowise was as visible as it was as it passed through our evening skies. That it was visible, even (to the naked eye) was a real treat and something that I wanted to be certain that we took advantage of. I wanted the kids to be able to see and enjoy it and I wanted to photograph it.
We could have seen it from anywhere, including from our house, but I was hoping to find a better spot to capture the comet. We needed a view to the Northwest without obstruction from trees or buildings, some other interest in the picture, and as little light as possible, but (around here) it is often difficult to get all of those things at once.
The dark skies are in the most rural communities, but they are often wooded. If I avoid the woods, I end up in a field, and those aren’t interesting photographically without farm equipment or other interesting elements that would require light-painting. I had no intentions of putting the kids through that.
The most photographic area that I could think of was one of the local lakes, but with the comet located where is was in the sky, Oneida Lake (which is a 10 minute drive from the house) was a poor choice. Onondaga Lake is in the city of Syracuse and the light pollution is quite signicant. That left us with Lake Ontario. I could drive to a more isolated area or go to Oswego.
While Oswego has it’s share of light pollution, it also offers interest with the break walls in the harbor, so I decided to cross my fingers and hope that the city lights behind us wouldn’t prevent us from seeing the comet.
We arrived before sunset, which was predictably unremarkable … we were there, because we were hoping for clear skies, after all.
Victoria brought her point-and-shoot camera and Austin brought his Olympus with his tripod. Victoria was most interested in taking her pictures when she first arrived and quickly became frustrated with the additional time (nearly and hour) that we needed to wait before (yes!) seeing the comet.
It was really neat – we could see it very easily with the binoculars and the images in camera looked good despite the light of the city. While Victoria quickly bored and became tired, Austin seemed to relish in the opportunity to use his camera and at the same time appreciate the comet. I let him experiment and seek advice when he wanted it. We reviewed the exposure triangle, ideas for composition, frame orientation, and cropping. After approximately 75-90 minutes of capturing images, we had exhausted any possible images that were to be captured and packed up our things, much to Victoria’s delight (she has been sitting in the car with Christine watching videos on one of her devices).
I wish that Victoria was more into it and could have had more fun after the sun went down, but I was grateful for the opportunity to spend the time with Austin, who genuinely enjoyed being outside with his camera. On the way home, he said, “Daddy, that was really fun. I liked it. Can I go out with you more when you go out to take pictures.”
“Of course, buddy.”
I was able to walk away with a few nice images as well, my favorite was captured shortly after blue hour. It is nice enough, but wasn’t the most rewarding part of my evening.
