Orb Photography

Not Halloween Orbs

There’s something about a full moon on Halloween that makes me stay home. Even though there’s a hot and exciting band playing a short stride downhill from my house.

So, I looked in my files for another costumed night at the Bisbee Royale and found these men dressed in red and looking for their own hot night on the town.

I hope you all stayed safe and are recovering from the storm.

For those of you who are new to this blog or would like to revisit the explanation as to what orbs are, this might be of help: https://orbsdelight.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/closeup-on-orbs/

Honoring the Power Service Crews of Hurricane Sandy

In honor of all the men and women working to restore power to the millions of people whose lives have been forever changed by Hurricane Sandy, I offer this picture in salute of your hardworking and tireless endeavors. May you know that your efforts are greatly appreciated as you strive to repair the damage left by the storm. You hold the hopes and wishes of millions in your hands.

For those of you who are new to this blog or would like to revisit the explanation as to what orbs are, this might be of help: https://orbsdelight.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/closeup-on-orbs/

Daylight Orbs

In this post I’m going to be showing several shots of this scene, just because the light orbs are so beautiful.

I posted a similar picture taken with my iPhone 4s camera in last week’s silhouette photo challenge.

These and most of the photographs in my blog posts are taken with a Canon G12.

Whether or not these are orbs of the same kind as we have seen in the night flash photos, or simply sun reflections, or a combination of both, they certainly brighten up a photograph.

Dr. Miceal Ledwith, co-author of the Orb Project, thinks that the hexagonal shaped orbs are a result of their light reflecting back at the camera lens just as the shutter is closing, thus the hexagonal aperture shape.

Looks like the orbs are approvingly interested in the renovation work.

I’ve inserted a larger image so that you can see the fainter orb on the upper left and the smaller orb on the right.

Daylight orbs? Scientists Dr. Ledwith and Klaus Heinemann, Ph.D. think it possible.

For those of you who are new to this blog or would like to revisit the explanation as to what orbs are, this might be of help: https://orbsdelight.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/closeup-on-orbs/

Flying in an Orb of a Balloon

In yesterday’s post I described the process of putting a hot air balloon up into the sky.  After the other balloons had taken flight from the field I saw Dream Catcher off in the distance still waiting to ascend.

Jeff, the Crew Chief for his wife, pilot Elaine Anderson, was happy to see another potential crew member coming to help.

I was happily photographing while helping when Elaine asked if I’d like a ride.

Yes!

Usually I love to fly even though there’s that cold feeling of fear in the pit of my stomach.  This time my flight was so unexpected the fear didn’t have time to get its grip on me.

With a burst of flame we were flying into the morning sky of Marana, Arizona.

My crew members were setting up the tailgate party below and totally unaware that I was flying overhead.

It was a beautifully clear day for a flight over the Pima cotton fields and mesquite trees. Very little wind so that we basically went up and down and just thought about flying across to other fields.

Finally, Elaine decided to bring us back to Earth.

The crew came to meet us and pack the balloon away.

For those of you who have not experienced the joys of hot air ballooning here are a few tips: always bring a pair of leather gloves to handle the ropes, be hopeful, but not too disappointed if you don’t get a ride the first time you crew, and don’t rush away at the end of the flight.

Tailgating is half the fun and a chance to relax after a sometimes strenuous early morning workout of wrangling a hot air balloon into and out of the sky.

Hot Air Balloons are Orbs of a Different Kind

Today I was chasing orbs of a different kind: hot air balloons. First, by getting up at 3 a.m. to travel two and a half hours to the balloon field in Marana, outside Tucson, Arizona. Even when we’re in New Mexico for the White Sands hot air balloon rally and the alarm goes off in the hotel room at 4 a.m., we know it’s really 3 a.m. Arizona time.

After standing around in the dark, catching up with each other since the last rally a month or more ago, and listening to the pilots’ briefing it’s time to get to work.

The ground is dry enough and weed free enough that Dan Ewer, pilot of Foolish Pleasure Hot Air Balloon Rides, has decided we can lay out the balloon envelope without putting down a tarp.

Number one rule: never step on the envelope.

This is a job I usually do, holding open the throat of the balloon while the fan blows it full of air.

Propane fuel heats the air so that the balloon can rise.

We’re ready to tip back the wicker basket and begin the final heating of the air before lift off.

Now we’re just trying to keep the balloon from flying off before the pilot gives us the go ahead to set it free.

The lucky ones are airborne!

In tomorrow’s post I’ll give you the view from on high after I wandered over to another balloon to help crew and was asked if I’d like to go for a ride.

Yes!

Incendio Incites Orbs at Bisbee Royale

The orbs were with Incendio playing at Arizona’s Bisbee Royale on Friday, October 26, 2012

Artists and musicians in the attentive crowd were mesmerized by the latin-guitar-world fusion groove that Incendio lay down with haunting passion.

It was a night of enthusiastic response to intricate rhythms and guitar riffs.

Bisbee belly dancers joined the band for the second half of the show.

The orbs gave full approval of the band and dance combo.

Once again the Bisbee Royale lit up the universe with an otherworldly fusion of music and orbs.

Thanks to Jean-Pierre Durand, Liza Carbe, Jim Stubblefield, and Nicole Falzone of Incendio.

Sloane Bouchever, proprietor and general manager of Bisbee Royale.

For those of you who are new to this blog or would like to revisit the explanation as to what orbs are, this might be of help: https://orbsdelight.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/closeup-on-orbs/

Bisbee Mine Tour Orbs

We have a guest orbist for this post, Mark Apel, who took these photos a couple of years ago and has been scratching his head ever since about what exactly he caught on film. (Okay, I made up “orbist” but it sounds good.  And, in the digital age it’s a darn shame we don’t catch anything on film anymore because that’s a handy phrase.)

Mark was at the Bisbee Royale recently when I was photographing the bands and I stopped by his table to show the orbs that were showing up in my images. The light went off in his head as he recalled the photos he’d taken during a Bisbee mine tour and no one knew what all those circles in the air were. When he sent me the images I was delighted to see the characteristic details and textures that I’ve come to associate with the orbs I find.

Looks like I’m going to have to put on a jacket and take the mine tour again, this place is rockin’ with orbs! For those who would also like to make the trip here is a link with all the details for a very informative tour into one of the most famous mines in the west: The Copper Queen Mine. http://www.queenminetour.com/

Thanks to Mark Apel for sharing a stunning gathering of orbs.

If anyone else has orbs they would like me to post on my blog, let me know. The orbs love an audience!

For those of you who are new to this blog or would like to revisit the explanation as to what orbs are, this might be of help: https://orbsdelight.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/closeup-on-orbs/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouettes

I’m trying out the Weekly Photo Challenge since it enables me to add more daylight to my blog and have an orb of the sun at the same time. There were some lovely silhouettes in my most recent post, but for me the challenge was to keep it in present time, not last month. Luckily, power came to our house this week when the electric company’s service man hooked up the line to our new electric service entry. It was a glorious moment, an affirmation that letting go of the past makes way for the future.

Balloons: Orbs of a different color

After night it is a relief to see day, and so for this post I thought I’d lighten it up a bit with those other orbs in my life: hot air balloons.

Sun washes over us after arriving at the field before dawn.

Hot air ballooning brings out the whole family to share the excitement of sending a balloon aloft.

The roar of fire adds to the intensity of the moment.

Everyone has a camera to record the novelty of balloons above White Sands.

Even with the occasional blast of flame, there is something very peaceful about ballooning.

Pilots don’t like to fly too high at White Sands just in case they land in a missile range.

So, you’ll see the balloons hugging the ground and skimming overhead.

Sometimes you’ll be flying above the crowd.

Or, you may be chasing your balloon hither and yon.

We are back to the night when orbs glow in the dark.  Orbs of a different color.

Back to Nature Orbs

I’ve been walking outside the last two nights in a quiet quest for orbs. I find myself mentally requesting them to appear, because I know they’re there, but will they reveal themselves?

There is a sense of drifting by, no place in particular to go.

I point my camera into the dark hoping for a revelation.

The orbs are so faint that I only know one has been caught on a branch when I return home to the computer.

And so I must trust that the orbs are there even when unseen at the time of flash.

Then it’s party time and all the orbs I was looking for have gathered at one tree like a flock of birds whooping it up, laughing that they knew where they were all the time.

For those of you who are new to this blog or would like to revisit the explanation as to what orbs are, this might be of help: https://orbsdelight.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/closeup-on-orbs/