Perseid Meteor Shower

The Perseid Meteor Shower is seen annually in August. It is the result of the Earth's orbit running into the path of the dust from the comet Swift-Tuttle. Hundreds of shooting stars fall from the sky to create a great visual meteor shower. While people can see few shooting stars in a typical night. The Perseid Meteor shower offers one of the best and most frequent viewings for people. While you can see hundreds of shooting stars, photographing them it not as easy.

The Perseid Meteor shower lit up at night along Hwy 32 Thursday, August 12, 2010 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

The same location is seen the day after the Perseid Meteor shower lit up at night along Hwy 32 Thursday, August 12, 2010 in Chico, Calif.(Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

I headed above the city lights and set out my camera. I was alone. After about 10 minutes, I lost interest. It was neat, but really quite boring by myself. This is one of the drawbacks about being a passionate photographer. You generally go out because you are excited to photograph something. It usually is in harsh conditions that other people don't want to join because they don't have the same passion to sit out in the dark and cold for 4 hours without any t.v. or reading light. Technology has improved, so I was able to play a scrabble-like game on my cell phone, which past the time quite quickly. Two hundred and fifteen images later... I had one image with a shooting star. I probably had more, I just couldn't seen them with the settings I was using.

Stars shine above Chico looking south of Upper Bidwell park at night along Hwy 32 Thursday, August 12, 2010 in Chico, Calif.(Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

The same location looking south of Upper Bidwell park is seen the day after the Perseid Meteor shower lit up at night along Hwy 32 Thursday, August 12, 2010 in Chico, Calif.(Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

You have to be very lucky. Getting your settings right helps, but even then you're not guaranteed a bright streak across the camera. I had set my camera to ISO 400 and the exposures to 30 second intervals while leaving the aperture wide open at f/2.8. I would have like to push the ISO sensitivity higher, but I was using an older camera (because my others are broken) for the time being. If I would have pushed it higher, the images would have been too noisy. It was a little dark, but all I needed was one.

I went back the next day to see the same spots that I had taken the pictures from. It was a neat afterthought to what I would consider a successful night.

Toys for the Big Boys

Every man is a just a large boy. We never grow up and never loose the love to play with gadgets and toys. I stumbled across three men who were flying RC planes around Chico. And I would be lying if I didn't say I wish I could have flown one myself. Unfortunately for one of the pilots, he crashed his plane while flying and broke the nose off the plane. He was definitely heart broken and the fun had finished. I did manage to get a couple nice shots of the men flying their planes.

Scott Martin, Mike Collins, and Dick Roberts (left to right) fly a Blue Angels RC plane off Hicks Ln. on Friday, June 25, 2010 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

Mike Collins, and Scott Martin (left to right) check the controls on Collins' Blue Angels RC planes he prepares to fly off Hicks Ln. on Friday, June 25, 2010 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

Mike Collins' Blue Angels RC plane suffered a broken nose after it crashed off Hicks Ln. on Friday, June 25, 2010 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

Hitching a Ride in the Sky

    I never pass up a chance to fly in a plane. I love to fly. I wish sometimes that is all I could do. Maybe it's the photographer inside me but I just love to get that bird's eye view. So when an assignment to cover the Young Eagles Rally allowed me to join some kids and a pilot in a plane, I said suit me up. 

    This flight is about 20 minutes or so and much more calmer than stunt planes for the Air Fest. It is a small plane that is cozy, which I enjoy. You can really feel the lift in the plane. On big commercial planes, you loose that sense of flight once you've lifted off the runway. In smaller planes you can really feel the wind currents. While in the air, I always try to snap shots of landmarks that we might use for other stories. I was able to snap these two shots of the Sacramento River and Mt. Shasta.

Gene Kemper (left) flies Weston Soudan, 11, (right) in his airplane for the Young Eagles free flights for kids event at the Chico Airport on Saturday, June 12, 2010 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

Michael Wiles, 11, looks at a map as he got a ride in Gene Kemper's airplane for the Young Eagles free flights for kids event at the Chico Airport on Saturday, June 12, 2010 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

An aerial view of the Mt Shasta as Michael Wiles, 11, and Weston Soudan, 11, get a ride in Gene Kemper's airplane for the Young Eagles free flights for kids event at the Chico Airport on Saturday, June 12, 2010 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

An aerial view of Sacramento River along River Rd. near Scotty's Landing (seen bottom left) as Michael Wiles, 11, and Weston Soudan, 11, get a ride in Gene Kemper's airplane for the Young Eagles free flights for kids event at the Chico Airport on Saturday, June 12, 2010 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)