Brilliant Sunset in the Cold Skies of January
This one happened fast! Minutes earlier a layer of clouds promised to add interest to the scene but as the sun sank the clouds disappeared. The sky close to the horizon turned orange and, to my eye, showed a bit of green as well! I quickly got set up in the 20-degree evening air and missed the full disk of the sun. I did get this piece of old Sol but the next exposure showed only a dot. Then no sun, only a beautiful glow. Even the glow faded fast!
Christmas Morning 2015: Ottokee, Ohio
Christmas Sunset 2015: Napoleon, Ohio
Sunset Cirrus: Ahead of heavy weather expected overnight, cirrus clouds decorate tonight’s sky.
Not All Sunsets Start Out Brilliantly – November 6
For a couple of days, weather conditions were perfect at the hour of sunset for spectacular sights. The first time it happened, all I could do is admire the color-fringed clouds through a line of trees at the end of our street; sunset colors, once they peak, disappear but fast!
Became a Spectacular Sunset – Through a Window – November 6
It happened again the next night (Friday, November 6) and again surprised me! Wouldn’t you know, I was in the middle of something and unable to throw together my gear and drive to a nearby clear vantage point! The best I could do is grab my trusty iPad and shoot images through a window. Still in all, I got a pretty amazing picture out of it.
Sunset Clarity – November 7
Not to be “fooled” a third time, I watched the western sky carefully as sunset approached Saturday night. When conditions began to look ripe for another beautiful scene, I was out the door with camera and tripod in hand! Standing in the chill breeze, I watched as the color built and the sky grew cold. No, no color-fringed clouds overhead, just the deep blue of an evening sky with some gray clouds dotting the velvet background.
Sunset Streamers – 6:12 PM – November 7
Saturday’s pictures turned out pretty and it was a beautiful sight to behold, just not the breathtaking beauty of Thursday … the one I missed, or Friday … the iPad/window shot. As I packed my gear into the back of the car in the gathering darkness of nightfall, I looked to the southwest. Near the horizon I saw rain streamers — shadowy streaks — beneath a cloud with sunset oranges in the background. I quickly set up again and got what I could of the drifting cloud, now out of optimal position. The exposure was long but the shot was pretty good — super moody — anyway.
So I’ve sunsets on my mind and, as you might suspect, I’ll be checking the sky every evening for quite some time hoping to not let the good ones get away unrecorded.
Moonrise into the Void
The waxing Gibbous Moon rises between trees of bare branches. Look closely and you will see that this is not a Full Moon — the lower-left portion of the disk is slightly darker, slightly irregular compared with the rest. In about two days Luna will shine brilliant and appear as a perfect circle … if our skies allow us to see!
Meanwhile, in the west, the Sun disappears in red-orange glory.
Sun Sets Abandoning the Sky
Cirrus Clouds in the Evening Sky
The sky cleared for a while Sunday afternoon and evening, providing us a break in the recent long string of gray, wet, and chilly days. As the sun set beautiful cirrus clouds graced the western sky.
Clouds the Color of Rust
Though the day’s grand sunset was blocked by trees from our direct view, we did receive an extraordinary and beautiful gift. High-altitude clouds, lit by near-full sun, were bright and white while scudding along under them, low clouds were stained in rusty tones by rays of sunset-tinted light.
Colorful Couds at Sunset
The sight was typically short-lived as clouds dissolved into darkness and overcast again overtook us. For a shining moment, however, the sky was filled with multi-colored clouds.
End of a Lovely Day, Beginning of Hard Weather
It was a lovely day today, considering it’s mid-January. The sky was mostly-clear and sunny and, though very windy all day, the temperature hovered around 50 degrees (F). It really did look and feel like a fine day in March. We are expecting a rather dramatic change in the weather around here. The temperature is expected to gradually slide from today’s high to single-digit lows over the next few days. We may also get another dose of snow midweek. This evening’s sunset was lovely, even as it portended the coming changes with a lovely burst of sun, a patch of blue sky, and encroaching quilted clouds. Tonight’s sunset was the end of a lovely day and marked the beginning of hard winter weather.
Trees bare of leaves against a sunset sky.
Tonight’s stark, cold, and early sunset let us know that November has arrived. Winter seems not long away.
I was to have led a local event celebrating International Observe the Moon Night tonight but the weather has been unfriendly to such endeavors! There was one giant “sucker hole” that let me see the Moon briefly; it was quickly replaced by something pretty spectacular but much closer to home…
No Moon – Stormy Sunset
The crescent Moon floats in evening twilight, beautiful end to a summer’s day.
The crescent Moon floated low in the late twilight above the neighboring rooftops. It was a beautiful scene. I was unprepared to capture the scene photographically. If I’d have expected such beauty tonight, I’d have most likely loaded my gear into the car and headed for a better vantage point; but all I had was the view from my window and a couple of minutes remaining before a photograph would be impossible. I grabbed my trusty 50D with its exquisite telephoto lens, braced myself on the window frame, and shot through the window glass. The first shot was the best and what you see here. Goodnight, Moon!
PhotonStopper 