"Flight of a Comet:" I have always been fascinated by comets. I remember as a young girl, choosing to do my annual science project on the topic and learning as much as I could about them while attempting to draw on my poster-board display their graceful tails and bright-beam heads with as much accuracy as I could to reflect the beauty I saw in them. But I realized that back then and until this year, I had never actually been able to see or photograph a comet myself. I had relied on images from science books and others to see them. But seeing one for myself, and being able to capture it over one of my favorite views in the world, was an experience like no other. What an amazing and beautiful sight to behold! And when I think about comets, and the different theories about their impact on life, that the same one thing has the potential to either cause mass destruction versus enable life as we know it, I am even more in awe of this spectacle. I hope you enjoy this image of Comet Neowise over the Granite Dells in Prescott, AZ.

Nikon D810; Nikon 70-200 f/4 lens at 160mm, Really Right Stuff Tripod and Ballhead, Vello Remote Shutter Release for reduced vibration from pressing shutter button.
Image taken with ISO 1250 at f/5 for 10 seconds.

Adobe Camera Raw to raise shadows and adjust highlights, Photoshop to adjust color and contrast, Topaz Denoise to reduce noise. Moonlight on landscape, plus the pre-dawn lighting helped illuminate the landscape better than could be done with post-processing alone.