A murmuration of blackbirds or starlings at Bosque Del Apache
Gone to Soccoro, Via Espanola
Posted in Available Light, Gopro Hero5, Sony RX100-VII on February 2, 2022 by budbranchComet Leonard – brighter, more tail…
Posted in Astrophotography, Long exposures on December 5, 2021 by budbranchComet Leonard is HERE!
Posted in Astrophotography, Long exposures, sky, Sony A7III on December 3, 2021 by budbranchChecking In: I Broke My Darn Leg *UPDATE*
Posted in Available Light, Cellphone camera, Handheld on September 7, 2021 by budbranchA few years ago, I broke my leg while mountain biking near Garcia Park. My biking partner went for help (downhill), while I waited. And waited.
After a while, I was right happy to hear a couple of ATVs coming down the trail – it was two brothers, who helped make me comfortable and warm – one stayed with me while the other rode UP to trail to cell coverage, and activated EMS. I was eventually evacuated to SF, and never knew much about my rescuers, until yesterday! Tim Hasson and I were gigging at Sol Food in Seco:
During a break, a diner introduced himself and asked “Did you break your leg up in Garcia Park?”. It was Bill Bansberg – one of the brothers!!
He said they had always wondered how things turned out – it was great to close the loop with them!
Here is my original post from 5 years ago:
Dear blog followers –
A friend offered a friendly ride on a borrowed mtn bike last week – the brakes failed on downhill, I bailed off and tumbled, and cleanly broke my right femur. It didn’t penetrate the skin, nor (most importantly) cut my femeral artery. Pure luck.
2:25PM We were by ourselves, out of cell coverage, 14 miles from the bottom. My bike partner bundled me up and headed downhill for help. 10 minutes later, two brothers on ATVs came down from above. One gave me his coat and stayed with me, the other went back uphill to find cell coverage and activate EMS. 3:10 The other brother returned, reporting that EMS was on the way. It took a couple more hours to get me IV-d, medicated, and transported two miles down the trail, where a medivac chopper could land in a meadow and fly me out.
I was in the ER in Santa Fe by 6:00PM – they did surgery ASAP: aligned the bones, drilled out the core, and installed an internal continuous rod, screwed everything together and stapled me up! I was in my room by 3AM.
Four days in hospital (St Vincent Med Center), now five days at home, healing nicely. Thanks for your interest – here are a few pics:
El Come Back Fest – Taos NM
Posted in Long exposures, Sony A7III, Wide Angle on August 18, 2021 by budbranch“Inbound – 3 minutes”
Posted in Uncategorized on July 31, 2021 by budbranchI had gotten up early to make breakfast for camping guests when I got this text from my my pilot friend Chris – he wanted me to try to make a photo of his ultralight, composed with the Moon (clear morning, Moon high…). So I did:

International Space Station Passes Over New Mexico At Dusk
Posted in Uncategorized on April 7, 2021 by budbranchThe International Space Station passed over us yesterday evening, very bright. I used the native intervalometer in the Sony A7III to robotically make 50 30-sec exposures, while we watched from the hot tub. I merged the 50 into one using StarStax, and included a single 30sec frame here, for reference.
I use an app on my phone to notify me when the ISS due to make a visible pass. It is always at dusk or sunrise, (since it is lit by sunlight only), and often predicted to be dim, or low, or the skies are cloudy, but sometimes everything lines up for a good view! This session also captured the rotation of the star field around the northern axis of the sky.
Looking forward to the Lyrid meteors later this month!

