CraigBILL

Everything was falling into place: The 2012 Perseid meteor shower was to take place in a dark, moonless sky (one of the biggest showers of the year), camera geared up, plan of attack in my mind, location secured. By the time I set up and began the first exposures by light painting this windmill (which I hoped was turning in the wind to show motion), a huge surge of red and orange light blazed the night sky. I couldn't believe it - not on this night! A refinery flare sparked up and flooded the perfectly dark stage for this nights' show. I threw up my hands and proclaimed the meteor shower and nighttime sky a total ruin. Just in case the flare died down, I continued shooting - and I'm glad I did! The refinery flare added an extra glow to the images that I would not have thought of, and I absolutely loved! As the meteors began streaking above my patient camp friends and my head, I set up the camera to record one minute exposures to capture some of the first night's meteors. In Cosmic Winds, I used a cool filter during the capture and during post processing to show the red orange flare glow as a cosmic blue.