18 October 2017 — 0134 mdt

Fire on the mountain west of Kalispell

Powerful western winds raked the Flathead Valley around the dinner hour yesterday, downing trees, knocking over lawn furniture and camper tops, knocking out power to thousands, and fanning fires to life. West of the Foys Lakes west of Kalispell, a fire reported as 40 acres burned into the night approximately 3.5 miles south of my backyard. Toward midnight I photographed the scene, first with a wide angle lens, then with a telephoto lens. Here’s what my camera recorded:

The fire is in the middle of the image along a ridgetop. That alien-like object in the upper left is not a fire starting ray. Rather, it's a antifact produced by internal reflections in the Sigma 24mm f/2.8 AIS lens that I used. Image made at 2235 MDT yesterday.

Fire details, taken with a Nikkor AIS 135mm f/3.5 lens (horizontal angle of view ≈ 10°) at 0032 MDT today. Larger image.

I prefer using these old manual focus lenses for night photography because they have a hard infinity stop and are easy to focus. Later today I’ll train longer lenses on the burn area and publish worthwhile images.