Mt. Rainier Moonset from Mt. Beljica

This image I made while attempting to photograph Perseid meteors over Mt. Rainier from my current favorite back road viewpoint, Mt. Beljica on FR59. This location is about 8 miles north of Highway 706, just west of the park entrance. The road is not bad except for a moderate number of potholes. Ordinary passenger cars can use it in dry weather.

The radiant in Perseus is near the horizon off the left side of the frame. I saw a very bright one that dove directly toward the peak around midnight, but none of my 3 cameras were open. That possibly was a stray because its direction of motion was 90 degrees away from Perseus. Later I saw a less bright one in the same place with all 3 cameras going. However, only one camera captured it on film:

www.flickr.com/photos/starmanmike/2787608904/

The upper part of the frame shows the Cassiopeia arm of the Milky Way.

The light is cast by the moon a few days past 1st quarter. At the time of this exposure the moon was about 2 hours from setting, making its light similar to late afternoon sun. After this exposure an invisible humidity layer moved in. I saw no cloud or fog, and the sky was clear enough to see the Milky Way, but I couldn't keep mist off my lenses long enough to make photos. Later about 3 AM the air dried and I did some more shooting. The pre-dawn light was so beautiful that I made a video panorama:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ9F6f0qb98

Digital prints and framing of this image are available at:

www.imagekind.com/showartwork.aspx?IMID=caefc3ce-be0f-446...

CAMERA: Olympus OM-1 35mm SLR
LENS: Kiron 28 mm f/2
FILM: Fuji Sensia 400 (ISO 1600) slide
EXPOSURE: 60 seconds @ f/2.8
SCANNED FROM: Slide
FILE NUMBER: 08-8 #13