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Photography by David Wilson

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Perseid Meteors 2020: A Comet’s Tale

August 22, 2020 by DavidWilsonMFX Leave a Comment

Humboldt County, California Currently speeding out from the sun after its last visit to the Solar System’s inner reaches in 1992, Comet Swift-Tuttle leaves a trail of debris in its path. Comets are made of frozen gasses, dust, and rock; as sun’s ...

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David’s Favorite Stories

Life-size wooden Santa window shops at christmas

Holiday Magic 2019

December 24, 2019 By DavidWilsonMFX Leave a Comment

Humboldt County, California. I’m used to odd things. I especially love when they visit me during the holidays, those special times when people want to do good things, and odd things find a welcome home. These times bring out the magical things; ...

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Trinidad, Humboldt County, California in the moonlight.

Lost in Space (Big Dipper over Trinidad)

November 6, 2019 By DavidWilsonMFX 4 Comments

Humboldt County, California The planet hung silently in space. A tiny jewel in the blackness, it was a half-lit marble of greens and browns and blues and whites. But it was more than a planet, it was a life-bearing droplet, a little oasis of life ...

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"All Happy Now" Earth Sculpture beneath the Milky Way

“All Happy Now” Beneath the Milky Way

September 26, 2022 By DavidWilsonMFX 2 Comments

Humboldt County, California The “All Happy Now” earth sculpture by Peter Santino was completed in 2008, but I became aware of it only last semester when one of my students shared a photograph of it in class after an afternoon hike in the Humboldt ...

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Dancer on the bridge beneath the Milky Way

Late one Night at Cooks Valley Bridge

November 26, 2020 By DavidWilsonMFX Leave a Comment

Humboldt County Line, California I had never met Lula when she approached me about making some photos of her in my nighttime style of photography. But I was game; placing a figure in an image inspires stories in the mind’s eye of the viewer, and ...

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Snowing at the Carson Mansion; Carson Mansion in the snow

Snowing at the Carson Mansion

March 14, 2023 By DavidWilsonMFX Leave a Comment

Humboldt County, California It hadn’t snowed this much in Eureka since 1989, thirty-four years before. It was the kind of event that sends photographers out in droves to capture unique images. Fortunately, I was first to go to the historic Carson ...

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The Arc of Night over Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

June 29, 2020 By DavidWilsonMFX Leave a Comment

Humboldt County, California It was approaching 12:30 a.m. at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park as the Core of our galaxy began to crest the redwoods beyond the meadow, anchoring the band of Milky Way that stretched across the sky from horizon to ...

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The Milky Way rises like mist behind growing cannabis buds in Humboldt County, California

’Tis the Cannabis Harvest Season

November 15, 2020 By DavidWilsonMFX Leave a Comment

Cannabis of Humboldt County The girls are all grown up, beautiful young blossoms in their prime. They’ve overcome tremendous obstacles in their young lives, and now they are ready to spread their wings and change the world. Where did the time ...

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Looking out through the mouth of the Moonstone Beach cave into the night.

Musings at the Moonstone Cave

April 23, 2019 By DavidWilsonMFX Leave a Comment

Humboldt County, California We stood in the mouth of the cavern, looking out through a great broken crack in the blackness into the night as if through a window into another world. It fired our imaginations, conjuring mysteries in the night. ...

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More of David's Favorite Photo Stories

  • Comet NEOWISE Over California’s North Coast
  • The Arc of Night over Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
  • Visualize the Night
  • Vacancy at 4th & E Streets, Eureka
  • Holiday Magic 2019
  • Lost in Space (Big Dipper over Trinidad)
  • Avenue of the Imagination
  • Eel River Overlook
  • The Survivor
  • Avenue of the Giants Guardians
  • Close Encounters on the Avenue
  • Musings at the Moonstone Cave
  • A Bit of Whimsy
  • Milky Way over South Fork Eel River

More of David's Favorite Stories

Instagram: @David_Wilson_MFX

david_wilson_mfx

"101 & The Road Less Traveled" (working title). To "101 & The Road Less Traveled" (working title). Towering redwood trees, Highway 101 (the Redwood Highway), the Avenue of the Giants, and the Milky Way... what could be finer? I photographed this with the help and companionship of my brother @kaptainz2002 . Humboldt County, California.
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#landscape#humboldtcounty#roadtrip#vacation#travel#milkyway#stars#longexposure#motionblur#california #californiadreaming#tourist#tourism#visitcalifornia#visithumboldt #californialove#norcal #camping#nightsky#us101#redwoodhighway#redwoods#forest#sequoia#visitsouthernhumboldt
Pre-dawn snow at the Carson Mansion the morning of Pre-dawn snow at the Carson Mansion the morning of February 23, 2023. 
Planning (and hoping) to photograph the rare sight of the Carson Mansion in the snow the following morning, I’d set my alarm for 4:35 AM. But it felt just too cozy in bed when the time came, and I gave myself another 20 minutes ...and it was still real cozy at 4:55. 

“If you don’t go out, you won’t bring anything back…” the voice in my head predictably said. I looked outside and the snow was falling fast in big flakes, and I was convinced. 

I’d hoped the snow would to be thick on the ground at the mansion, and if it were I wanted get a long shot down the road of the mansion with snow covering the streets and no car tracks. I even thought I could do one in which I would be a lone figure walking across the snowy intersection in the photo, like my own snowy Old Town Abbey Road. I was there early enough for no car tracks, but the snow wasn’t thick on the road or in the trees like I'd hoped, so I went in closer and photographed other angles. It was 6:04 AM when I photographed this. Eureka, Humboldt County, California. February 23, 2023. ❄️🌴

Once the sun came up there were lots of people out photographing. I stopped at one of the turnouts on the Samoa Peninsula to catch some snowy dunes and surf in the early sun, and spotted a mom, dad, and infant out doing the same. They were having fun taking turns photographing each other with their phones, so I offered to take a photograph of all of them with their phone. 

“You look like you might be expensive…” the dad said. I had a camera and tripod out and was wearing a pack. 

“Hell, no!” I cried, and we laughed. After I took photos of them with their phone, they took some of me with my phone. It was a good morning..
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#Carsonmansion#snow#snowstorm#unusualsnow#snowing#palmtrees#snowpalm#landscape#humboldtcounty#eureka#Eurekaca#dawn#bluehour#victorian#predawn#Eurekawaterfront#humboldtcounty 
#visiteureka#cityofeureka#californiasky#moodygrams #california #californiadreaming #visitcalifornia #californialove#norcal #nightsky
Happy New Year 2023! May it be a damn sight bette Happy New Year 2023! 
May it be a damn sight better’n the last one. As always.
I long ago resolved not to do New Year’s Resolutions. 
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Model: Morrigan Crowl
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#happynewyear2023#goodbye2022#NewYearsEve#goddess#beauty#babe#moonlight#ocf#starlight#astrophotography#portrait#landscape#landscapeastrophotography#humboldtcounty#universetoday
#californiasky#moodygrams #california #californiadreaming #visitcalifornia #californialove#norcal #nightsky
Instagram post 17971118446796329 Instagram post 17971118446796329
The core of the Milky Way galaxy rises in the nigh The core of the Milky Way galaxy rises in the night sky above the “All Happy Now" Earth Sculpture at Humboldt Botanical Garden ( @humboldtbotanicalgarden ) in Humboldt County, California. Information on the sign reads, "Peter Santino's All Happy Now Earth Sculpture is the only one of its kind in North America. It is a merger of two ancient landscape architectural features, the ziggurat and the labyrinth. Based on a mathematical equation named Fermat's Spiral, the 100-foot diameter earth mound is covered with grass and features two non-intersecting quarter mile pathways which take the walker to the center and back down out the opposite side." Self portrait photograph by David Wilson. September 16, 2022. 

Find the whole story of this image on my web site mindscapefx.com.

Humboldt Botanical Garden is a world class botanical garden comprising 44 acres of diverse plant species, trails, greenhouses, and sculptures. It is about eight miles south of Eureka at 7707 Tompkins Hill Road, adjacent to College of the Redwoods, and is accessible from the college’s northern entrance on Tompkins Hill Road. 
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#starrynight#landscapephotography#milkyway#petersantino#allhappynow#nightscape#sculpture#earthsculpture#humboldtbotanicalgardens#collegeoftheredwoods#astrophotography #paintingwithlight #lightpainting #selfportrait #energy #magic#spiral#ziggurat
After IT happened, everything changed. These thi After IT happened, everything changed. 

These things happen.

Trinidad Harbor, Trinidad, Humboldt County, California. 
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#apocalypse#postapocalypse#postapocalyptic#apocalyptic#Pacifc#Pacificocean#harbor#safeharbor#fishingboats#pier#waterfall#Trinidad#trinidadharbor#humboldtcounty#seascape#landscape#nature#earthquake#aftermath#globalwarming
Mermaid encounter on the South Fork Eel River, in Mermaid encounter on the South Fork Eel River, in May 2022 (see previous 2 posts for others)...
Saw sasquatch too, but she had to keep moving and couldn’t stay for the shoot.
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makeup/model/stylist @_marynieto / @janes_reflection
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#Humboldtcounty#Eelriver#southforkeelriver#mermaid#sohum#southernhumboldt#magical#goddess#babe#beauty#beautiful#wilderness#travel#maiden#forest#mountains#river#swimming#model#nymph#woodnymph#goddesss#beauty#sasquatch
It's Mermaid season again. You've probably seen so It's Mermaid season again. You've probably seen some yourself recently. I met this Mermaid while hanging out on the South Fork Eel River at the end of May. She was very friendly. This is the best time of year to find Mermaids up the riverways ("riverways" ought to be a word). If Unicorns are magical, Mermaids are the Unicorns of magical creatures. 
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makeup/model/stylist @_marynieto / @janes_reflection
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#Humboldtcounty#Eelriver#southforkeelriver#mermaid#sohum#southernhumboldt#magical#goddess#babe#beauty#beautiful#wilderness#travel#maiden#forest#mountains#river#swimming#model#nymph
When the mind wanders… go with it, or you might When the mind wanders… go with it, or you might lose it. That’s what I did.

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Merperson: Mary Nieto, @_marynieto . Makeup/model/stylist @janes_reflection . I had the mermaid tail.
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#mermaid#humboldtcounty#rain#crystalball#lensball#composite#dof#dephoffield#wet#refraction#spectrum#sphere#river#eelriver#southforkeelriver#sohum#southernhumboldt#benbow#benbowsra#rainbow#rainbows#motion#shutterspeed#prism#refraction#prism#roygbiv#spectrum#visiblespectrum#water#rain#droplet#droplets
What are you looking at? This is a straight photo What are you looking at? 
This is a straight photograph, no compositing; just edited for tonal range/contrast like any photo. Except, what IS it? Take a guess.  Try it! If you guess right, you get to feel *so* smug. How often does THAT happen? Of course, if you look at the hashtags before you guess, you wouldn’t feel so smug, no… you’d have an empty feeling. Try it!
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#whatintheworld#rainbow#shower#showers#rainbow#rainbows#motion#shutterspeed#prism#refraction#prism#roygbiv#spectrum#visiblespectrum#water#rain#droplet#droplets
FIRE HAZARD — this was nearly instantaneous. Cr FIRE HAZARD — this was nearly instantaneous.  Crystal Balls in the sun are FIRE HAZARDS! Don’t set it down in the sun outside OR in the house. 
When you set your crystal ball down in the sun, it is just like a magnifying glass — FIRE! Be careful, because anywhere you set it down in the sun, it will burn the surface it is on, whether outside or indoors on a shelf.

It’ll burn your hand as you hold it in the sun, too — it got me a little, but I was fast.

This was an old tinder dry redwood board.

I wonder how many accidental fires start with a crystal ball carelessly set down in the sun…

The moral: when you have hot balls, be careful!
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#firehazard#crystalball#lensball#magnifyingglass#solarpower#solar#solarenergy#heat#hot#fire#forestfire#housefire#firedanger#firestarter#survival#tinder#redwood#fuel#firehazardreduction
Shot in the dark. What in the World? That used to Shot in the dark. What in the World?
That used to be the title of a column in “National Geographic World” magazine; I loved the magazine and that section growing up. Those were often macro shots, nearly unrecognizable close-ups of usually familiar objects. This isn’t quite the same, but still… what in the world is going on here? I’m not telling, except maybe in the comments. 
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Nikon D850
14mm lens
ISO 64
f/6.3
Shutter: 13 min, 33 sec (13:33)
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#roomba#robot#lightpainting#paintingwithlight#longexposure#latenight#nikon#humboldtcounty#mapping#AI#artificialintelligence#lightstreaks#irobot#roombaj7plus
Chess. . . Technical spoilers: Single exposure li Chess. 
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Technical spoilers:
Single exposure light painting, no compositing. This is a chess board I made in high school in... I forgot which grade it was. Somehow the checkerboard pattern seems attractive in a surrealistic sort of way to me, and painting it in with light using my flashlight shining, alternately, through Red plastic, then Green, then Blue, added to the surreal quality of it. My idea was two environments: Blue vs Warm, the black pieces on the blue side, and the white pieces on the warm side, separated not only by the colors, but by virtue of the fact that the white pieces were only in focus within the crystal ball. The color variations are the result of the different colored light (from the plastic filters) painted into the scene at different times during the exposure. For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about "Queen's Gambit".
Nikon D850
60mm f/2.8 macro lens
ISO 64
f/3.0
118 seconds (it took that long to paint it in).

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. #chess#lightpainting#paintingwithlight#RGB#colortheory#additivecolor#Nikon#D850#longexposure#chessmen#chesspieces#crystalball#lensball #humboldtcounty#queensgambit
A bud growing at Sol Spirit Retreats, which offers A bud growing at Sol Spirit Retreats, which offers cannabis tours and a glamping experience outside of Willow Creek, California. July 25, 2020.

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#MilkyWay #starrynight #nightphotography #astrophotography #norcal#skyline#glamping#glamp#camp#camping #californiasky#activenorcal #Humboldt #humboldtcounty #nightphotography #hottie #california #299 #highway299 #silhouette #universetoday #cannabis #canna #marijuana #dank #buds #outdoor #homegrown #solspiritretreats #southforktrinity #trinitycounty
HOMO COVIDUS, the COVID MAN A new species of human HOMO COVIDUS, the COVID MAN
A new species of human has evolved in response to changes in the environment. Twilight Zonian in appearance, this species walks the world nearly faceless, peering over, and seen through, a mask that erases half of the face. 
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#Man #COVID #COVID19 #N95 #portrait, #Photoshop, #LightroomClassic #Nikon #D850 #Covidmoment  #humboldtcounty #homocovidus #twilightzone #twilightzonian#covid_19#covidman
Streaking between Freshwater Lagoon and the Pacifi Streaking between Freshwater Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean, car lights along US Highway 101 illuminate the scene on the coast of Humboldt County, northern California. A fishing boat's flood light can be seen on the horizon right of center. July 28, 2021.
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I posted the uncropped version of this a few days ago, but I dislike the way Instagram’s format cramps horizontal shots into such a narrow space. If only the app allowed for tilting a device (phone, iPad) sideways, then we could see horizontal photos in all their glory. How odd for a “photo sharing” app to make it so difficult to enjoy anything but vertical and square crops. #instagramsuggestion : allow rotating the device to view photos horizontally. I don’t favor this crop, but it fills Instagram’s ultralimited space better than the uncropped version. 
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#Freshwaterlagoon#freshwater#lagoon#orick#ocean#pacific#pacificocean#beach#coast#MilkyWay#starrynight#nightphotography#astrophotography#norcal#californiasky#activenorcal#Humboldt#humboldtcounty#nightphotography#hottie#california#101#US101#highway101#redwoodhighway#fishingboat #oceanfishing#reflection#silhouette#universetoday
A remote river valley and its skyline rest beneath A remote river valley and its skyline rest beneath the stars on the California north coast in Humboldt County. The very core of our galaxy rests above the ridge line. The warm glow is from a nearby habitation. July 13, 2021..
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#forest#skyline#silhouette#fog#river#mountains#mountain#nightlife#glow#MilkyWay#nightphotography#astrophotography#norcal#californiasky#activenorcal#Humboldt#humboldtcounty#norcalpulse#nightphotography#californiadreaming#hottie#california#californialove#countrylife
Streaking between Freshwater Lagoon and the Pacifi Streaking between Freshwater Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean, car lights along US Highway 101 illuminate the scene on the coast of Humboldt County, northern California. A fishing boat's flood light can be seen on the horizon right of center. July 28, 2021.
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#Freshwaterlagoon#orick#lagoon#ocean#pacific#pacificocean#beach#coast#MilkyWay#nightphotography#astrophotography#norcal#californiasky#activenorcal#Humboldt#humboldtcounty#norcalpulse#nightphotography#californiadreaming#hottie#california#californialove#countrylife#101#US101#highway101#redwoodhighway#fishing#fishingboat #oceanfishing
The Milky Way and skyline reflect in a great water The Milky Way and skyline reflect in a great water catchment pond at Schackow Farms ( @schackowfarms ). 

The distant hills were illuminated by a crescent moon in the western sky (to the right of the frame). Humboldt County, California. June, 2021.
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#canna#cannabis#ganja#marijuana#spliff#farm#farmlife#MilkyWay#nightphotography#astrophotography#norcal#californiasky#activenorcal#Humboldt#humboldtcounty#norcalpulse#californiadreaming#hottie#california#californialove#Humboldtshooters#humboldtcountyofficial#countrylife
A young cannabis plant reaches for the stars withi A young cannabis plant reaches for the stars within a wire framework that will help support its branches as it grows. A long exposure allowed the stars to move across the sky as the world turned, exposing the Milky Way along the treetops. Humboldt County, California. June 28, 2021. 

Watch for an upcoming “Night Light” story about the changes in marijuana culture from “pot growing” to “cannabis cultivation.” It’s a weird topic for my night photo story series, but I will do it in a weird way. I have these photos and I have to write *something* when I share ‘em!

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#canna#cannabis#americascannabisheartland #marijuana#farm#farmlife#MilkyWay#startrails #nightphotography#astrophotography#norcal#californiasky#activenorcal#Humboldt#humboldtcounty#norcalpulse#nightphotography#californiadreaming#hottie#california#californialove#Humboldtshooters#humboldtcountyofficial#countrylife
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