Comet Neowise

July has been a month for a photographic treat in the form of Comet Neowise.  Photographing a comet was not on my agenda for this year (of course neither was shelter in place).  

Having a newly discovered comet as a photography subject was a nice surprise and something I have been chasing for the last couple of weeks.  Last comet I remember seeing was Hale-Bopp in the late 90's but I had no way to try to photograph it back then.  Now I do and I was excited to see what I could get.

A few weeks ago when it was visible in the morning in the northeast, I took my camera on my morning bike ride hoping to get it but I could never see it or it was cloudy.

After it became visible in the evening sky, I began planning and doing drives for images.  First thing was to find subjects that had a view to the northwest.  I am more of a landscape photographer than an astro photographer.  Which basically means I want the ground in the image and not just a piece of the sky.  So for me that lead to planning some drives to some spots that had views to the northwest that would be interesting as a foreground with the comet above.

High on my list was a view along the Paluxy River near Glen Rose.  Glen Rose is an hour drive from Fort Worth and it got me away from the worst of the light pollution.   I knew a stretch I thought might work and luckily it did.  I was able to set up a view of the river with the comet in the sky above.  I even got lightning bugs blinking in the shot.

A couple other places I knew were actually old rural churches.  So we made a couple of different drives to photograph them.  Both are away from town and have decent views to the northwest.

At one church we found that a bunch of other people also came out as it had unfortunately become famous on social media.  It was the first time I had ever encountered another photographer here.  It was difficult to move much here with so many others so all my shots are from the same spot. Luckily everyone seemed to be good about working together and I think we all got shots.  That is the church up top of the post.

The other church had no others there and it was easier to move around without others to worry about.  Here the moon was out which reduced the brightness of the comet, still I worked with that I had.


Each spot was a good experience and I got decent photos at each spot.

I also did a few nights out closer to home, actually I never left Tarrant County, but just getting out of of the city made the comet visible and photographable.

I was glad to get these chances and glad to get a few different night photos to take.  This comet will not be back for over 6,000 years- get out and see it while you can.  it is a true once in a lifetime event!