Post your best photos - Palm Talk Hall of Fame

[Harry’s Palms]

You can sign up on line I think. My daughter did it for me as a surprise. The tour is about the significance of the plants as they were building the park. Interesting stories about how they acquired some of the older plants and trees and moved them to Disneyland. The tour guide didn’t know much about the palms , more how they got them and why they chose them. Harry

[Silas_Sancona]

A little early  Monsoon Season Moodiness...

[Silas_Sancona]

MSM, Take 2,  ..Smoke Screen Week..















Fire Lizards..



Yet to see much rain = the palm gods aren't thrilled. Would you be?...



Where's my Rain???



Palms and Pilots



....... 

[Silas_Sancona]

....Tis' the season, for Bolts..  Let us get off the mountains, and out from behind the Smoke screen going forward please..













..I spy a ghost..

[bubba]

Not the best picture but the Cocos nucifera is a squiggler:

[Jadd Correia]

2009 Marshall Islands, Aur Island

[John hovancsek]

I can stand here all day 

[WaianaeCrider]

Not sure if I've posted this before but here is a 4 year old picture of my 24 year old Pseudophoenix vinifera.  Probably one of the best palm photos  I've taken and NOT just because I'm in it.  LOL   So far no sign of the CRB attacking.  I treated it in advance of  any attack.

[sonoranfans]

[Jonathan Haycock]

This is one of my favourite pictures I took back when we lived in Adelaide. The Payneham (South Australia) Jubaea chilensis. 

[Silas_Sancona]

M.S.M. take #3:

Before  ..An unexpected surprise..





















Dirty bolts  = Mehh..







Wait a minute, what's this.. Not bad








Not bad,  at all. 😁   Missed one that landed a bit closer.   ...Not as close as one that flew over my head a few weeks ago while setting up out front though. 

Now if i can get a ragged Javelin landing, like shot #2,  over either the palms in the street island, or out back,  i'll be set..

Patience Grasshopper..




Brave ..but not an idiot = knows when to head indoors..

A grand finale ..for now.. Gotta love drops that land on the lens at the wrong time.. Reminder to carry a towel at all times.





The evening after:  ..A lurker, some waves,  ..and some Crepuscular / Anti- Crepuscular rays..















*** Remember, all shots are sole property of yours truly   ..and i do have eyes floating around looking for them showing up in places they shouldn't  be, ...without proper credit  assigned ***

[BayAndroid]

On 7/16/2024 at 7:59 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

😁




 

 

Awesome, I love it. 

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, BayAndroid said:

Awesome, I love it. 

  

Funny thing is, have been repeatedly tempted and almost went up on the roof that night to try and get a better perspective, lol

[Silas_Sancona]

Monsoon Moodiness, Take 4:  Mid Season highlights..

Rain may be hard to come by at the house,  but not everything has been as underwhelming thus far this year..


Lava Flow



Monsoon Moods 1 ...and 2





Rays



Castles in the Sky ..Look closely..



Light on High..



3 highlights from a " Picasso meets Bob Ross " -esque  kind of Sunset masterpiece  ..To the tune of Alan Parsons Project's song,  Time..







Sum' bolts, because ...Tis the season...














....And the one that got away  ...For now.

This isolated storm formed on my doorstep and quickly rolled off to the S.W. after dropping a 8min big drop sprinkle.  Noting that it was starting to generate a few bolts,  set up to see if i could grab  something..   

In storm chasing / Lightning Photography,  tall, isolated cells, surrounded by clear ( ..or nearly clear ) skies like this one are one of the golden pillars all of us strive to shoot successfully each year.

This cell reluctantly grumbled a little avoiding capture..  About 8secs. or so after this 30sec. exposure ended,  it dropped the mother of all bolts from the top of the cloud, ...directly above where the distant street light is located in the center of the shot,   to the ground, surrounded by perfectly clear air..  Capturing it would have been the highlight of the year, perhaps ever.  ...To this point at least.

Shot may make this thing look tiny and further away, or weak as heck,  ..not far off in the distance by this point in time, at all..

Rest of the bolts captured in this series of storms came after as this cell died and the others off to the right in the shot hit their stride as they side swiped the southern side of South Mountain / Sierra Estrella < Mountains > to my southwest.

We'll see if next time i strike some gold.   There's still plenty of time,  ...if the Lightning spirits feel like cooperating.






>

[Silas_Sancona]

Northern Lights  ...Take 2...    That's two  solar storms just strong enough to bring the Aurora to PHX  ..and my doorstep  ..in the desert ..in ONE  year.   Touch lower on the horizon than the May event.









If ya missed it, well, Maybe next time. 

LOTS of great shots of tonight's show  from back east, Dallas, N. FL, Lake Tahoe ..and Los Gatos ( California ) online.

[hbernstein]

This is a much-photographed Hyphaene thebaica in Saamburu National Park, Kenya

[hbernstein]

Sorry, can't figure how to edit post: Samburu.

[BayAndroid]

16 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Northern Lights  ...Take 2...    That's two  solar storms just strong enough to bring the Aurora to PHX  ..and my doorstep  ..in the desert ..in ONE  year.   Touch lower on the horizon than the May event.









If ya missed it, well, Maybe next time. 

LOTS of great shots of tonight's show  from back east, Dallas, N. FL, Lake Tahoe ..and Los Gatos ( California ) online.

I missed it... so lame. 

[Silas_Sancona]

4 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

I missed it... so lame. 

In all honesty, had the sun set about an hour later than it is currently, we may have missed this event.. Areas back east got the best show this time.

As i just mentioned elsewhere, current solar cycle hasn't reached it's peak yet so there's plenty of time to catch the next potential event. 

NWS  Space Weather / Aurora Dashboard,  and the Aurora Forecast section of the Geophysical Institute < University of Alaska > are worth checking in on from time to time.

From there, it all comes down to timing, position, and patience. ..Unless of course you're somewhere in Alaska, lol.


**** I forgot to add : ***  On a night like last night, esp. from a light - filled location, 10 sec exposure on say a phone may not get you the shot you want.

30 sec to 1min+ exposure = better..