Scarlet Pimpernel

Thanks! Yeah, I invested in going to a mirrorless camera and lenses a few years ago (after using traditional DSLRs for years). Glad I did so, I really like the mirrorless system and it seems everything has been moving in that direction for awhile. Gradually sold and traded in the previous equipment and eventually got a Canon R5, which is a wonderful camera and the higher resolution allows me to crop a fair bit when needed.

Here's a couple from the other day, plus the October "supermoon" rising from the other week...

Damn cutters!!! (I say this jokingly, as a native of Cleveland, so I'm rooting for the Guardians!)

Hey, all! Haven't been in here for awhile but coming out of "hibernation" as we approach winter! Even if it's "meh" this year. Here's a monarch butterfly I got a photo of the other day. Didn't think butterflies were still around this late in the season but I guess these guys are still migrating.

Damn that looks tasty! I always like a good omelet!!

Yes...it was reddish due to the haze and whatever else in the air plus the moon being so low on the horizon (lots of refraction...notice how the moon looks rather oblong in that photo due to that). The "blood moon", I believe, refers to what you'd see during a lunar eclipse...which is a totally different thing, the moon passing through the earth's shadow and it turns a spectacular orange-red when total, then moves out of the shadow. Here's what the moon looks like during a lunar eclipse, from the one we had recently in Nov. 2022:

I took that Friday evening from the rooftop of my place. The moon really was that reddish of a color as it rose.

Moon rising this evening, on the horizon...

Dafuq????

Sounds like the bar scene for @ravensrule back in the day!

Took these during, and just after, the severe thunderstorms that went through right around sunset. A couple are black and white.

Thank you for the kind words! Glad you liked those! There are so many tulips I've seen around the Bethesda area, it's like I couldn't decide what to choose for taking photos!!!

@mappy...TULIPS!!! (2nd one is in black/white)

There won't be such a thing as "threads" in 21 years, as we currently know it! Well, other than the Panic Room, where the ageless Reaper @WxWatcher007 will still remain to guide us hapless souls, even well into his retirement by then!

Thanks! It was interesting getting shots with the filter on because essentially everything but the sun was black (by design with a solar filter). Had to look up a bit on the flip-screen and zoom out to "find" the sun and then zoom in to the full 500mm on my lens and take the shots.

Nope,no tracker or anything. I was outside through that time, about 2:00pm through 3:30pm and took many shots. Then yes, I post-processed them to get the same size image afterward and changed the white balance temp to make the sun a bit more yellow looking (through the filter it was almost white looking).

Amazing shots from everyone here, those who were fortunate enough to be in the path of totality and those of us who were here locally in the DC metro area!!!

I was just going to say...damn, dude, you got the diamond ring on that shot!!! Amazing!!

Finally...here ya go!

Got many shots of the partial eclipse here in the DC metro area (about 87% or so coverage). Not as spectacular as totality but still neat to experience. It got pretty dim with this almost eerie light and definitely got cooler. I don't think the gif animation I made will fit here, so will attach two subsequent posts after this with a sort of series from some of them. Used my solar filter throughout, changed the white balance to 7500K to get a slight yellow tint to the sun, and cropped the images. In some of the earlier shots you can make out sunspots. I used a 500mm lens. (ETA: See below...actually managed to get them all into one post!)

That's pretty amazing! On a slightly different note (related to Illinois), I also thought I heard that somewhere in Illinois, they have a cross-over of the 17 and 13 year periodical cicadas (I guess far enough south where both can exist?). And this year, BOTH broods will be emerging at the same time!

@mappy...TULIPS coming soon!! Hope to get some nice photos and will post some here for you (and everyone) when I can! I've actually seen quite a few tulips coming out in the past couple of weeks.

You know, this is probably the best attitude to be honest. Go where you can get to and deal with what ends up happening, no point in stressing out over it. I've never been in a position to have a bunch of possible locations and change that on a dime, myself. And, my trip to the Cleveland to see family there for the eclipse ended up being canceled anyhow. Partly due to logistical issues with the drive, plus the not-great-look that I saw showing up in the middle of last week. So I decided to just be OK staying here in the DC area with a partial coverage (~87%) and hopefully can get some nice shots of that at least. I hope you have a good time in Ohio, regardless of how things are! I'm biased having grown up there, but I like the place, it's my home! I'll get in a visit up that way another time this year, maybe can catch a Guardians' game while I'm at it.

Finally! I can't wait for a good eclipse NAMing!!!

Yeah, even if just a sliver of sun is visible, it won't be the same of course. But agree, if he's looking to be with family then that's the main factor here regardless of whether or not it's 100% total. Yup. If it's too cloudy you won't even get to see the partial coverage with a partial eclipse (with appropriate eye protection of course!), and the same is true in an area that's in the path as you lead up to totality. I've seen a couple of partial eclipses (one was actually a partial annular one), and while of course it doesn't get dark it gives this sort of eerily dim, "3-D" look outside. There's also a neat effect of crescent-looking shadows on the ground anywhere the sun passes through an opening (such as leaves, though not many of those out yet). I, myself, have essentially given up and canceled my trip to Cleveland to my brother and sister-in-law's place. The forecast trends the last few days have not been good for that area, and even if there's no actual rain on Monday the cloud issues just seem like it will be too much. That, plus other logistical issues I'd have driving up there, make it not the most worthwhile. Wasn't an easy decision and it sucks, but oh well. Everyone knew that early April in that area is normally a dubious proposition for clear skies and that this was a possibility. I'll "settle" for observing it here locally (and hope it's not just as bad with clouds even here!!), and hopefully get some good shots of the partial coverage over time using the solar filter I have for my telephoto lens.