Berkeley Hills Sunset Rays
February 10th, 2010Sunset after a February storm, seen from the Berkeley Hills looking toward San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. HDR image captured while the time-lapse camera setup was clicking away.
This image is reminiscent of one from last year from same spot at same time. As these storms clear I’ll be looking for more broken cloud imagery from interesting places.
Feb. 9, 2010.
Silver Lining
January 22nd, 2010Clouds part as they cross the Golden Gate, providing a silver lining to the spate of storms that have run across Northern California in the last week.
This is an HDR image made using three frames, bracketed +-2 EV, and composited in Photomatix.
Muir Woods Deep Quiet
January 3rd, 2010Muir Woods on a foggy morning in January, 2010.
Milky Way from Highway 88
December 26th, 2009When the Northridge earthquake cut power in Los Angeles in 1994, Angelenos were stunned to see the night sky without any light pollution. Alarmed callers to 911 wondered if the cloud in the sky had caused the earthquake. For weeks, many refused to believe that the sight of the Orion nebula in the sky was the actual night view without electric lights drowning out the view.
On a recent ski trip to Kirkwood ski resort in the Sierra mountains of California, I made photos on two clear nights from Highway 88. This one shows the Milky Way, among other features. If you click through to Flickr, and view a larger version of the image you’ll note there is at least one additional galaxy clearly visible in the upper left.
I was deeply, deeply moved by the sight of thousands of visible stars in the sky. For me their sight snapped into perspective my place in the universe. It was simply amazing to feel connected to such a vast realm. I found it hard to comprehend the vastness on its own. Framing it with familiar trees helped ground me from the sensation of flying free in space. And time.
I highly recommend night sky awareness to all city-folk. Next time you’re speeding down a lonely highway on a clear dark night, pull over and shut off all of the car’s lights. Step outside and let your night vision acclimate and let the wondrous sights unfold. It’s worth it.
Time Lapse Test – SF Bay Area
December 10th, 2009San Francisco Area Time Lapse - Draft - No Transitions or Music from Stephen Lefkovits on Vimeo.
Sunset behind the Golden Gate Bridge, snow on Mount Diablo, morning at Stinson Beach, the clearing of a storm from the Berkeley Hills, heavy fog in San Francisco Bay and the night stars in Tilden Park all seen in time lapse in this rough cut assembled with no transitions or music. Edited version to follow.
North-Facing Star Trails
November 26th, 2009Stacked composite of 87 10-second images at f/2.8 at ISO 2000. Stars visible from Palm Springs, November 24, 2009. Angled trails are probably aircraft, though when rendered to video these frames shows that they are all moving from right to left (downward), which may open the possibility that some are meteors.
This turned out to be a classic case of beginner’s luck. This was shot on Tram Drive at about 1500 feet of elevation so there was little ambient light from the town below. Relatively few airplane streaks for a spot so near a major airport, and there was almost no wind to trouble the alignment. I wasn’t so lucky on my second try….
Coyote Moon Composite
November 2nd, 2009A composite image of a hunting coyote and the full moon – made at Curry Point in Mt. Diablo State Park, Danville, California. November 1, 2009
Twisted Elk
October 23rd, 2009Bull elk on a ridge in Lamar Valley at sunset. Yellowstone National Park, October 2009.
Firehole Canyon Waterfall
October 20th, 2009The edge of the falls, revealed by slow motion. Firehole River Falls, Yellowstone National Park, October 2009.








