Land-O-Light

6:43 AM, November 9, 2021

We like to call out Place "The Land-O-Light."  Why?  Well, the Light Show here is pretty much a 24/7/365 gig, even on cloudy days.  At certain times, the Light Show goes over-the-top and produces truly spectacular sunrise and sunset events.   

Obviously, the most dependable Light Shows will be at sunrise or sunset.  However, light intensity and display usually precedes technical sunrise and sunset times.  For example. NOAA lists our current sunrise time as 7:12 AM (11/27/2021).  That time presumes no terrain on the horizon.  The sun actually peeks over The Mogollon Rim around 7:30 AM.  Meanwhile, the Best Light occurs around 6:45 AM when the area is still shrouded in pre-dawn darkness.

Clouds make the Light Show spectacular.  Depending on the type and density of the clouds, the Light Show can begin earlier-than-normal and extend much later than normal.

The same is true for the sunset.  Sunset Light Shows tend to last long and cover a much wider area of the sky than do sunrises events.  Technical sunset here in late fall is generally around 5:15 PM.  A sunset Light show can begin as early as 4:30 (depending on cloud type and coverage, of course) and last well after technical sunset.

Sometimes, there is a burst of "after light" in the evening that can bring alive the very high clouds far above the western horizon.

Our place has an unobstructed view of the sunrise.  Mesquite trees interfere with the sunset on the horizon itself but the upper atmosphere is unobstructed.

During late fall, the areas of both sunrise and sunset don't vary much.  However, you can use a phone app called "The Photographer's Ephemeris" or the NOAA sunrise/sunset calculator to determine both times and bearings.

Bottom Line for creating spectacular photos of either rise or set is to be prepared.  Get up early and get ready, especially if you know the clouds might be "right".  Likewise, arrive back at camp well before sunset.  Get set up and settled in and be prepared.  Keep an eye on the evolving light.  Have your photo spot picked out.  Know your equipment.  Preparation is the key to success.

We will eventually create a Google Photo album of some of our favorite views of the Land-O-Light Show so you can get an idea of what to expect.

Meanwhile, this is a pretty good Dark Sky area.  A very large sweep of night horizon has no lights whatsoever.  What few manmade lights do exist are scattered and not concentrated.  In the cold, crisp late fall night air, skilled astro photographers will have some excellent opportunities for captures here.

We ourselves enjoy doing occasional time lapse photography of the clouds in changing light conditions.  We use an Android app called "Lapse It Pro" for our time lapses.  Even though both our phone and the app are decidedly "low rent" they produce excellent short time lapse videos.  We will link to some of them here soon.

5:21 PM, December 28, 2018