Half Dome picture from some where around Turlock

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nutjob

Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
Nov 30, 2012 - 04:02pm PT
I think one of the most interesting things about this side view is getting a more accurate perspective of the relative heights of features within Yosemite (e.g. El Cap, Halfdome, and the mountains behind). When you're up in it, you just can't see that as clearly.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Nov 30, 2012 - 07:23pm PT
good work!
another interesting thing is that all of those locally vertical faces we seen in the Valley are leaning back about 1º (or more) from the vantage point of the Central Valley, which can distort the scene.

I don't doubt that shot at all, and am planning on getting it myself at some point in the not to distant future!

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Dec 19, 2012 - 11:48pm PT
right now the weather seems iffy for the Wed, Dec 26 Moonrise

Weather Underground forecast is for 100% overcast those three days,

NWS is not so dire... but 20% chance of precip. on Wed...

and the UWa 3 day model forecast looks complicated... but it's more than 3 days away...

Jerry Dodrill

climber
Sebastopol
Dec 20, 2012 - 01:00am PT
Lets keep an eye on it.
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
Dec 20, 2012 - 02:57am PT
Funny that this got bumped. Was at Lick Observatory today. It was very clear. First time I have ever seen Half Dome from there. Took a shot:

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Dec 20, 2012 - 03:47am PT
nice Mike!
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Dec 20, 2012 - 04:05am PT
The Lick shot's so good, it's about the type of clarity needed to produce valley shot, but even moreso for the definitive shot, I bet.

Night before last I mentioned in a thread that yesterday was looking like it was gonna be such a day. It was cloudy up top above the Sierra day before yesterday, the wind was strong and cold out of the west, and the clouds were headed east quickly. Yesterday morning was a disappointment, really, though the view of the mtns was great, it wasn't crystal from cown here.
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
Dec 20, 2012 - 02:48pm PT
Very nice, Mike.

The view of the mountains has been excellent here the last couple of days. I can see crack systems on Patterson Bluff on the way home, with Mt. Goddard's new coat of snow in the background. Now if I only had remembered my camera (or even my phone).

John
steveA

Trad climber
bedford,massachusetts
Dec 20, 2012 - 04:38pm PT
I love this thread and subject. Thanks guys.

Mother Earth is pretty amazing!
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Dec 21, 2012 - 02:16am PT
So this thing is 100 percent?
I think so... it'll be fun to getting the shots, look at Mike's image... from Mt. Hamilton, it's amazing.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Dec 22, 2012 - 01:48am PT
Wed Dec 26 is still looking cloudy and possibly wet...
though the weather is certainly unsettled

Thur Dec 27 might have a weather window: clearing skies through the day and clear by 6pm (sunset at 4:50pm, which is when the moon rises... that would be spectacular timing with a snowy alpinglow on the Sierra crest..

Humidity seems a bit high...

johnboy

Trad climber
Can't get here from there
Dec 22, 2012 - 08:17am PT
Well I thought it had been chopped, but I'll admit my first take was wrong.

It's damn amazing though.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Dec 22, 2012 - 02:28pm PT
here is the Moon rise ephemeris
the apparent altitude is calculated taking into account atmospheric refraction using Saemundson's expression:

R = 1.02/tan((pi/180)*(h+10.3/(h+5.11))/60 (in degrees)

and h is the true altitude (in degrees) the apparent altitude is:

h0 = h + R

[see Meeus p106 eq(16.4)]

that location is "good enough" for altitude... and time.

The Sierra Crest is at an altitude of about 1.2º to 1.5º (estimated from my previous attempt)

The bearings are shown on the map:


the red lines point to Half Dome, the central one at 65º and the upper and lower ones being 0.25º on either side, the angular diameter of the moon is 0.5º

the jagged white line is the Half Dome sight boundary, it is visible to the west of that line...

Given the existence of orchards of some sort along the Central Yosemite Hwy. (Hwy 140) it looks like good viewing would be in the field south of the Hwy, and west of Lincoln Rd, though no public roads access the west side of that apparently open field... another option is to go north on Sultana Dr. just a bit south of the aquaduct where there seem to be open fields...

The weather is still wavering for these days... Th is still "partially cloudy" and is worse than the previous Weather Underground report... The NWS calls it "partially sunny" with a chance of rain.


Sunset is around 16:50 for these days.
Stay tuned
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Dec 22, 2012 - 02:52pm PT
Kinda makes it tough to navigate this thread when we get extra-large photos posted. Just saying...
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Dec 22, 2012 - 02:58pm PT
suck it up mouse... tough to read microscopic print at 800x600 pixels...

DMT has his Half Dome shot...
aguacaliente

climber
Dec 22, 2012 - 03:54pm PT
Great picture from Mt. Hamilton, Mike. If you get another chance/clear day, and have a red filter (perhaps left over from B+W photography), try also taking long distance photos with the red filter and converting to black and white. Less effect of haze due to scattering and absorption.

I have used a very red filter with a DSLR - you need a tripod because the DSLR is not very sensitive in the red due to an internal IR-blocking filter - to take photos that are almost near-IR. The reduction in haze means the landscape can have an appearance of immense depth. It is an effect that shouldn't be overused, but great for these long distance pictures.
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
Dec 22, 2012 - 03:56pm PT
Yup - I was up at Mt Hamilton for other business and was luck to have a long lens with me. If I have known what the view was going to be like I would have come better prepared with filters to push the response red and would have tried a few other tricks to increase contrast just in case.
Banquo

climber
Amerricka
Dec 22, 2012 - 05:55pm PT
Open up your camera and take out the IR filter. I've done this and it is pretty easy with some cameras - practically impossible with others. There are commercial services that do this too. Just google "ir camera conversion."

A red filter on an IR camera would make some cool images.


Ed-
Finding an unobstructed view could be an issue. Have you thought about moving across the valley to the hills above I-5? I think Butts Road out of Gustine might work.

http://goo.gl/maps/JxhCl

The sight distance is about farther (93 miles) which will make a clear picture harder to get.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Dec 23, 2012 - 08:07pm PT
Wednesday still has cloud cover and chance of rain...

Thur evening is clearing after that front passes... looking better


Stay tuned... UWa weather model has some good looking isobars happening sometime on Wed... so it is still in the running..
Bruce Morris

Social climber
Belmont, California
Dec 23, 2012 - 08:33pm PT
I think a lot of the critics of the size of Half Dome in this shot ignore that basic fact that the intervening atmosphere acts as a powerful lens enlarging images seen at the horizon. Hence, when you photograph a moon rise, say from Skyline Boulevard, looking east toward Mt Hamilton, the lunar disk, when it first emerges over the horizon, is much larger for a few moments before it ascends higher in the night sky. Sometimes the lunar disk on the horizon even appears at first in discontinuous wider and narrower bands. It seems like this phenomenon is stronger when the intervening atmosphere is more polluted too. Is this due to defraction of the light rays caused by the higher particle count in the atmosphere? Don't know about that, but am sure this shot is the real deal.
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