bowtie` Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 It is a good thing I did not look at the visual satellite before going out to the pond this evening. After dinner I just looked at the sky and thought, " I might get lucky and catch a break between cells". I would have missed some color if I did not go out there. Did not start off well though. Originally I walked down to the pond but while there, a bolt of two of lightning and a shaft of rain drove me back to the car. First image was from beside the car while it was still sprinkling but the lightning had moved east and north of me by then... I was finally able to make it back down to the side of the pond even though it was still spitting raindrops. I do not quite understand the red in this image. It was still too early for red. The rain shaft must have bent the light somehow to get the red in this image. You can see the bright yellow behind it! A head-scratcher for sure... I think this is the only image here of the evening with no raindrops falling in it. And this is the start of the orange up high... Max red and I was back under the spitting rain again... Good night my darlin' wherever you are... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 14, 2019 Author Share Posted July 14, 2019 After two straight days of not a cloud in the sky for the sunset, it was nice to have something to shoot. Even though it was distant and diffuse. The start of the orange... Max red, which did not last long... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 With a boundary to the north and east. And Bobby to the west a south, an alley of clear from Indiana to Iowa with a northwest orientation was perfect made for some post sunset color. It did end up being nice. The conditions when I got out to the pond... As the post sunset start with the light orange... And now onto the dark orange... And finishing up with the red flash... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 16, 2019 Author Share Posted July 16, 2019 Well, I had no plans for sunset pics this evening. Had a dental procedure today and was not feeling 100%. Plus it looked like the Bobby remnants had over run the area. Well a couple of sucker holes opened up just at the right time. But I had already put the car away and was about to jump in the shower. So I just took these from the yard with all the trees, lights and wires in the way. What it looked like when I realized it was going to do something... A shout out here to a gal in the back seat of a Jeep product, that when they drove by she pointed over my shoulder and all I heard was "bowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww". Turned around and darn if she was not right. an orange rainbow from the orange light. Back to the northwest again and the max orange... Max red and I was able to step back into the house and call it an evening... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 19, 2019 Author Share Posted July 19, 2019 No great amount of clouds this evening. But the smattering was positioned properly, so the attempt was made. Started off toward the side of the pond I do not make it to very often. The orientation of the clouds took me over there... Back to the fishermen point but seeing how they were driven indoor with the blistering heat, I had to whole place to mayself. Max orange... And ending the evening looking due north... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 I am going to start off with an error that ended up looking fairly decent. After dinner, grabbed the camera which had been inside all day in the A/C and ran to the pond. Set up the camera, popped the lens cover off and *poof* instant condensation. Taking the cold camera and lens from the cold house straight to the oven like conditions gave me a cloud inside the lens. So I am taking a picture of clouds through the clouds in my camera. You could say I am doubled down on clouds in this image. I kind of like the result... Here is what it looked like after the lens had equalized and I could get back to trying to accurately image the conditions... Here is the post sunset clouds... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 Tonight the sky conditions changed rapidly and seemingly constantly. Could not complain about being bored out at the pond. Was busy from the time I got there to the time I packed up and left. When I arrived it was still raining as you can see in the pond here... Fortunately the rain stopped and the clouds right on the horizon in the first image climbed to above the billboard... As close to local sunset as the conditions would allow... Getting more vertical showed all the different cloud layers... While there was a little color post sunset, the scud tried to put a block on the max orange here... There was just a little red and it was on the backside of the scud so it is kind of hard to see but it did make a nice ending for the evening... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 The dry air was winning this evening. The clouds did not make to the sunset. So this is a single image looking south at the retreating clouds while the sun was still above the horizon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 Some crepuscular rays when I got out to the pond this evening... About the best I could do before the virga on steroids ran me back to my car. I was not expecting rain at all.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 25, 2019 Author Share Posted July 25, 2019 Not a cloud in the sky for the sunset this evening. But I made a guess that maybe the Canadian smoke might make a nice visual. I might have guessed right. Local sunset... looks OK if maybe a little boring... Max orange... starting to look a little bit better... The rest of the images are all about the violet and red... Starting off with the red up high... Full on gak violet, on the horizon... Ending the evening with max red on the horizon and the billboard lit up... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 26, 2019 Author Share Posted July 26, 2019 Had some normal clouds to go with the smoke this evening. Sun above the horizon... Sun below the horizon... Late color and clouds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share Posted July 27, 2019 A nice night out at the pond. The clouds were out there. And it was just a pleasant evening to soak up the colors. Close to local sunset, real close... Close to maximum color dynamics ... Once again had that violet color late, late in the evening. Very pretty... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 I was not sure that the evening would bring, but I was ready for about anything for once. An overview hen I got out to the pond. this image is looking about due west. You can see some rain way, way far away in Illinois. Then there is a cell to the north in the right side of the image. I was interested in the orange in the northwest. If the corridor opened up just a little bit the post sunset color could be good... As close to local sunset as I was going to get with a visual on the Sun. While the above image was with the 16-35mm. This image was with the 24-70mm... About the best color dynamics, and a switch back to the 16-35... The red flash, caught with the 24-70... And ending the evening back on the 16-35mm with the incidental light on the clouds above my head... Was such a strange night in that all those lens changes and I was ahead of the curve all night. Making the proper choice with plenty of time to get set up in time and not miss anything I wanted. Usually I am frantic at some point and miss something but this worked out rather nicely. And the sky cooperated also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 Pre-system sunsets can be chancy affairs. At least there was some cirrus to shoot this evening. When I got to the pond and from my normal position... Moved over to the fishermen's point to get this cirrus off to the north... Post sunset color right on the horizon... And finishing the evening with a look at the same cirrus cloud that I started with but much later and from farther towards the north side of the pond... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 Kind of a different night at the pond. The rain of the afternoon had passed on to the east but the low level moisture was hanging tough. Made for some waiting but also some nice images. When I first got to the pond there was some nice sun dogs with that perfectly placed cloud... Looking to the north with the high white cirrus and the yellow low level clouds... And now looking east at the same conditions as above... Then there was a break as a solid layer of clouds ran overhead. It was one hour between the above image and this one... Of course, losing the daytime heating the clouds melted away as the light died with them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Thank you Lake Michigan for the lake boundary clouds this evening. I know usually I curse you for the 100% stratus days but today I needed your influence to have some clouds to shoot at sunset. Close to sunset... Clouds off to the south with some nice color... Sort of early post sunset... Really late post sunset... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 1, 2019 Author Share Posted August 1, 2019 Was another *fun* evening out at the pond. Started off close to local sunset. A nice combo of clouds... Did not look like there was going to be much color post sunset so I was messing around trying to get a decent reflection image... Suddenly, and I do mean suddenly, some decent red seemed to pop up out of no where. Looking back a the visual satellite I now see the reason it happened. The clouds over southern Iowa were moving towards Missouri. When they got far enough south it suddenly let the red through as the Sun made its way around the bend under the horizon... Here I tried to make the image as symmetrical as possible... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 2, 2019 Author Share Posted August 2, 2019 Not much to the sunset this evening. I still put in an appearance at the pond though. Post sunset there was this thin, little cloud that looked like it formed on a smoke boundary... Also had some diffuse and faint cloud shadows going on for another short period of time. I am not sure if the shadows were from the front edge in Iowa or the top of the cells in South Dakota. I am going to guess South Dakota, but what do I know... Tried shooting it this way so see if it was *easier* to see. You be the judge... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 Looking at the satellite after I got home I confirmed what I thought out at the pond earlier. I was right on the edge of the clouds. Had clouds to the north and west. But the east and south were barren. Gave me some nice cirrus to image. Local sunset and the yellows... Post sunset and the orange... The red flash was rather rapid and a little diffuse... And way past time I should have headed home. I really like the young moon in the upper left. Just gives the image a little lift... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 My favorite time of the year. Tonight was my 14th day in a row being at the pond taking sunset shots. I might be a little sleep deprived but my joy factor with life has gotten beyond the sated phase. Got to enjoy this while it lasts before those 100% stratus days start up again. It was another night with perfect placement of clouds for optimal viewing. Oh, and it took so long to go through, chose and edit all the images of the evening that it is tomorrow already. So these are from the evening of Aug. third if you are looking at them sometime in the future. Started off with what it looked like when I got to the pond. There was a little sun dog on the left side of the Sun... A little more of a broad view pre-sunset... Post sunset and the way the *white* clouds kind of made semi-circles, intrigued me... The greatest extent of the red flash... Some of that violet color that I think is smoke induced. Oh and the moon also... Not sure if I should share this one but I think I shall. This is all about the white clouds at the top and middle of the image. While they might not be noctilucent clouds they have to be close cousins. The clouds have to pretty high up to still be white when I am so far past sunset. Matter of fact it was 43 minutes past local sunset to this image. Also the incidental light on that cloud to the right looks pretty wild. So this image has a few things that I like... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Day 15 of the streak continues. The big question of the night was, a. Does the smoke conditions cause the clouds? Or b. Does the cloud conditions cause the smoke to be visible? Whatever the case, sparce conditions at the pond this evening. A little of that violet color with some extremely diffuse cloud shadows... This is the end... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 6, 2019 Author Share Posted August 6, 2019 Day 16 of the streak continued this evening at the pond. The neat thing about this evening was the combo of clouds. To the east was the cumulus. To the west was the cirrus, both low and high altitude. Made for another fun night behind the viewfinder. When I got to the pond. THe view to the east and the cumulus... Now on to the west and all the cirrus. Starting off with local sunset... Max orange... Max red though it was a weak looking red... And finishing up with the last dregs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 7, 2019 Author Share Posted August 7, 2019 Day 17 of the streak. While it was nothing to write home about, it was another evening at the pond and that is a good thing. Looking south at the cells over Bloomington, IN. when I got to the pond... The view to the west was cloudless so it was all about the color post sunset... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 8, 2019 Author Share Posted August 8, 2019 The streak continues once again. Day 18. Who needs sleep? When I got to the pond and looked east. The firehouse and a cloud... There was only one cloud to the west also. Although it was more overhead than west... Once the Sun dipped below the horizon, all the clouds evaporated with the loss of Daytime heating, so I was just trying to get the color right from then on. Just a tad bit of the violet color here... Glad I stayed for every micron of color. Here you can see I had a rather strong cloud shadow real late. I am not sure if it is from a string of clouds in western Illinois or northwest Iowa. I am thinking the Illinois string. Almost looks like the billboard is causing the shadow but it had nothing to do with it... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 9, 2019 Author Share Posted August 9, 2019 On and on the streak goes. Day 19 at the pond. The storms rolled through early enough that I was able to make it out there with no problem. Looking northeast when I got out to the pond. I like that I got lucky and caught the strobe on the radio tower going off... I thought there were no clouds out west till the Sun sunk beneath the horizon. Then I was able to see these little suckers... Extreme late color... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 10, 2019 Author Share Posted August 10, 2019 On and on it goes. Day 20 and counting. Looking northeast when I got out to the pond. Almost looks like a fall-streak cloud... Once the Sun Set I could see just a couple clouds, wayyyyyyy off in the western distance... The red flash was kind of different this evening. The red was contained from due west and from south of there. Nothing up north. Looking at the satellite when I got home I see the convection in South Dakota and Minnesota turned the light off north while south of there was still open. Hence this... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 Well, I'll be... Day 21. Week 4 of the streak is about to begin. Ending of the third week was very enjoyable. Local sunset. I thought I might have been too late because of other commitments but it timed out just right. The Sun is in the tree in the center of the image but trust me there is about three to five pixels, that I can see real easy at 100%. I was happy just to have some clouds to shoot... Post sunset I started to get a rather broad cloud shadow. I thought if this is the best my night will be OK... But it was even going to get better. I am going to share two more images. They were taken one after the other. It was really getting to be close to jaw-dropping. The red searchlight was the cherry on top of the sundae... This last image was taken within 5 to 10 seconds after the above image. Just enough to let the lights on the billboard get powered up to full power. This way you can pick or choose which you like best. With the billboard lit, or without the billboard illuminated... Looking at the satellite when I got home, I see what looked like an alley formed in north central Iowa. That would coincide with what I was seeing. What a gorgeous sunset. Good night my darlin', wherever you are... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 12, 2019 Author Share Posted August 12, 2019 Day 22 and a nice relaxing time at the pond this evening. Nothing so amazing that I got nervous about missing anything special and no time constraints so I could be there when and as long as I liked. When I got to the pond... Greatest extent of clouds and as close to local sunset as I was going to get. And that was not very close at all with the system moving in... The red flash on some local clouds to the north. Yes, I shot this very dark so as not to blow out those reds, as this camera body is prone to do... The better red flash was to the north of me. I am guessing LAF and points north probably had a jaw-dropping event. I was just a tick too south to get to play with it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 13, 2019 Author Share Posted August 13, 2019 Day 23 of the continuing streak. Did not expect much at all. Was close to calling it off but after dinner I noticed some breaks in the far north western sky and went out to the pond, just in case. Some crepuscular rays when I got out to the pond... The beginning of the yellow... The end of the yellow... The last of the color way in the distance... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted August 14, 2019 Author Share Posted August 14, 2019 Day 24 of the continuing streak, just barely. Only have one image to share seeing how the cloud hung tough over me all evening. Also the last image of this page, for me at least. Yellow crepuscular rays overhead and orange crepuscular rays on the horizon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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