The Perseids | 2016

The Perseid Meteor Shower peaked in the Northern Hemisphere during the night of August 11-12 this year (Up to 200 per hour!). Eventhough it had been raining for weeks on end, I was optimistic that I would have clear skies for the show.

I headed up to my secret spot in the Linville Gorge to try my luck. The clouds rolled in just after I arrived, but I remained hopeful.

For hours there was nothing to see but a cloud filled sky. The clouds were moving through pretty fast, so I knew there was a chance that they might clear out. While I waited, I photographed the landscape around me. The first image in this gallery was captured just before midnight with a 25-second exposure time. The subsequent images all range from 25 to 60 seconds. I really like the ones where the clouds are pushing through the gorge- at eye level. All of the light you are seeing is from light pollution. It is an unforunate affect of where we live, but sometimes you have to make the most of it.

The sky finally cleared around 3:30am and there were some pretty incredible meteors on display for the next hour and a half. I saw close to 50 meteors before the clouds finally moved back in at 5am.

The image of the meteors in this gallery is a composite of a handful of 20-second exposures looking over Hawksbill Mountain with the radio tower of Grandmother Mountain glowing on the horizon.

I love the image at dawn of Hawksbill Mountain with Grandfather Mountain looming in the background.

The sunrise panorama -one of my favorite views of Linville Gorge- is compiled of two images. I love how the light filters down into the depths of the gorge at sunrise.

As a landscape photographer, you never know what you are going to get in terms of weather. You have to learn to adapt and make the most of the scene before you. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good night.