View of Sitka Sound from near the 5th tee on the Sea Mountain Golf Course. I am often struck by the gray to blue transition of the water (due to whether it's reflecting blue sky or clouds)

Mostly cloudy with a little rain. Clearing near sunset, with low clouds beginning to form late (after dark).

Total precipitation in March was almost 3 inches below normal (3.06 inches vs. a long-term mean of 5.91 inches). This year’s precipitation is about half what we had at this time last year. (Last year was exceptionally wet in January and February.)

The channel had very few gulls. I suspect they’re out where the herring are spawning.

I drove out to Starrigavan this evening to see if there might be spawning happening along the road system. I didn’t see any.

  While out that way I walked around the golf course. It was quiet bird-wise there. I imagine it will pick up with migrants soon.

  I was slightly surprised to see this buck rub right along the path up to the 5th hole tee

While driving Swan Lake, I noticed fish surfacing. I think they were going after chironomid midges that have hatched in number in recent days.

  Taken at twilight, this is a focus stack of two long exposures (one for foreground focus, the other for the waterfall)

As light was fading this evening I drove out to Herring Cove. I wanted to experiment with light sculpting/painting. It’s a technique of photography where photos are are taken in the dark, and artificial light is used to illuminate parts of the scene. The particular technique I tried involved illuminating different parts of the scene separately, then combining the images into one later.

  One of 30+ images that went into a composite - this one with the light illuminating the waterfall

Though the final result was interesting, and quite different from a straight long exposure, I wasn’t excited by the results I got. However, I was primarily wanting to experiment, and I did learn something from the experience, so I considered it a success. I’ll probably try it again in the future.

  This is a composite of 30+ photos. Each was a 30 second exposure taken in the dark with a patch of the scene illuminated by a light I was holding

I may also try doing a different mix of the composite. In this one I largely took all the light and made it as even as I could. I may find something more compelling by leaving more of the scene darker.

By the time I was finishing up, a nearly full moon had come around enough to clear the mountain and shine down. I left my camera going for a 11+ minute exposure while I walked up the trail to the split rock and back. It’s always a little surprising to me how much long exposures by moonlight can look like they were taken in daylight.

  Lit only by the moon, this scene was captured with a 695 second (11+ minute) exposure at ISO 800, with the exposure further boosted 1.7 stops

I stopped to take photos of Silver Bay on my return. Low clouds were beginning to form around the mountains. Perhaps a precursor to the “areas of fog” mentioned in the forecast.

  My iNaturalist Observations for Today

The post Moonlit Night first appeared on Sitka Nature.