Night Skies
August was a good month for night sky photography. I want to start with a first for me. Seeing the Northern Lights in Iowa is an infrequent occurrence. It happened in May of this year but we were driving back from Chicago after our trip to Portugal and Spain. On August 11th I got an Alert from my Aurora app that there was a 10% chance we could see the Aurora in our area. We could not see the Aurora, but the camera picked up some nice colors.
I did some Star Trail Photography this month.
Davenport Veteran's Memorial
Lost Grove Lake Wildlife Management Area
I also did some Milky Way photography.
Lound Thunder Forest Perserve
Back Water Gamblers
Backwater Gamblers is a water sky show in Rock Island IL that runs biweekly through the summer every year.
Rock Island Grand Prix
The Rock Island Grand Prix is an annual event held on Labor Day weekend. I tried to work on panning to reflect the motion of the cars in the photos.
Saint Louis
I spent a weekend in Saint Louis with my tour guide, Sarah. We covered a lot of ground. Here are my favorite photos.
Birds
I found my first owl without any help. It was a Leucistic Barred Owl. I heard a bird going through some limbs to land in a tree behind me. I saw a white bird and started taking pictures. From where I was standing, it looked like a Great Egret, which I see frequently. I knew I was shooting through limbs, and the picture would not be great so I gave up after a few shots. I did not realize it was an owl until I reviewed my pictures at home.
Other Birds
\It was a quiet month for getting bird pictures. They should be migrating through, but I am not seeing many birds
Ruby-throated Humming Bird
Goldfinch
Insects
Monarch
Blue Dasher
Eastern Pondhawk
