Of Course I Had a Go – Comet Neowise

With the limited options to go anywhere, you would think that any photo opportunity would immediately pique my interest.  The arrival of a comet in the night sky would seem to be just the sort of thing I would have a go at.  However, it took me a little while to get tuned in to the idea of seeing this comet.  I had been out of the house one evening and, when I got back, I saw a video about the comet on YouTube.  With it getting dark, I figured I would try and check it out.  We had a run of very clear skies so this seemed like the ideal opportunity.

The problem was where to see it.  The comet was relatively low in the sky and I needed to get a bit higher up.  Plenty of hills around here so I headed out in the car.  However, we also have a lot of trees and I failed to find a good spot.  I also think I hadn’t let it get dark enough in hindsight.  It did get me thinking about it a bit more though and I decided I should go to the shore since the view would not be obstructed.  Mukilteo seemed like a good option.  Apparently, I was not the only one to think so!

I got to Mukilteo at about 10pm to give my self time to get sorted out.  The parking lot was surprisingly full.  It certainly wasn’t crowded but there were a lot of people there.  I got set up once the comet started to be visible.  There is a path along the shore with some grass behind it and I set up on the grass.  What I didn’t know about was the night sprinkler system.  I found out when it switched on!  I only had to move a short distance to stay dry, though.  Then I was free to shoot the comet.  I did try a shot with the ferry crossing underneath but the ferry moves a surprisingly long way in a short exposure time.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *