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Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

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Sunspot, baby!

January 23, 2023 by Tony

Sunspot, baby!
A massive sunspot, the largest in decades, is seen on the face of the Sun. (© Tony’s Takes)

Check this out! I had read that there was a massive sunspot on the sun, the biggest since 1990. Well, after work I decided to slap on the solar filter onto my camera and have a look. Sure enough there is NOAA AR 13190 as it is known by stargazers.  To give a sense of scale, that massive sunspot is about five times larger than planet Earth! Crazy.

Solar activity is currently increasing as we near the height of the current solar cycle and is expected to peak in 2025. AR 3190 is so large that if it were to erupt with a solar flare, it could be an X-class event, one that if it struck the Earth could destroy electronics, shut down power grids and have devastating effects.

As you can tell, the sunspot is about to rotate out of view and away from us. An important note… Do NOT look directly at the sun to try to see this event. If you have solar eclipse glasses, those would work to allow you to safely view it.

BTW, the title of this posting is a shoutout to one of my all time favorite singers, Bob Seger , and a song of his that I absolutely love. 😉

A massive sunspot, the largest in decades, is seen on the face of the Sun. (© Tony's Takes)
A massive sunspot, the largest in decades, is seen on the face of the Sun. (© Tony’s Takes)

The setting full wolf moon

January 8, 2023 by Tony

The setting full wolf moon
The setting full wolf moon is framed by bare trees. (© Tony’s Takes)

A beautiful morning on the Colorado plains yesterday. Sunrise was stunning as you saw from my pic this AM and turning around and looking west, our only natural satellite was not to be outdone. The silhouetted trees provided a bit more interest.

Moon and balloon

November 14, 2022 by Tony

Moon and balloon
A hot air balloon floats in the sky with the waning gibbous moon. (© Tony’s Takes)

Another capture from my photo session with this cool Colorado-adorned hot air balloon this past weekend. I soooo wanted it to get closer to the waning gibbous moon but it never did quite line up as I had hoped. Nevertheless, it is cool to capture the two objects against that gorgeous blue sky.

Smokestack blood moon

November 8, 2022 by Tony

Smokestack blood moon
The moon during a total lunar eclipse above an old smokestack in Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Mother Nature didn’t do me any favors this morning in my attempt to capture the lunar eclipse. I got up earlier than normal and headed out toward work, figuring I would find a spot along the way to get some pics of the celestial event. Unfortunately, every place I tried along the way had clouds.

I arrived at work early, figuring I would just use the time to catch up on some things and as I got out of my truck, there it was! Unfortunately, there was a thin bit of cirrus clouds so I just could not get a fully sharp capture like what I wanted. However, this 1920s smokestack (undergoing renovation as you can tell) provided some additional interest and didn’t require a huge crop.

As the eclipse was already past maximum, I had very little time to play around with compositions, finally realizing that a bit of a move to one side would put the moon right over the smokestack. Not too bad in the end I reckon.

The waning gibbous moon and fall colors

October 16, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

The waning gibbous moon and fall colors
A warning gibbous moon floats in the sky with fall foliage below. (© Tony’s Takes)

My photo outing yesterday wasn’t as productive as I had hoped so I found myself working pretty hard to get some share-worthy images. Thankfully, our only natural satellite provided a cool subject, particularly when thrown in with some of those gorgeous blue Colorado skies and the changing fall foliage. The details you capture of the moon at this stage is captivating to me and I can just sit there studying all the craters and other features, seeing something different each time.

The full harvest moon sets in Rocky Mountain National Park

September 17, 2022 by Tony

The full harvest moon sets in Rocky Mountain National Park
A full moon sets behind the mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park. (© Tony’s Takes)

Taken last weekend as I was out looking for critters, I was drawn to this view of our only natural satellite as it wrapped up its appearance for the night. Just as the sun was taking over duty for the day and casting a golden light on the mountains, the moon bid farewell, disappearing over the horizon.

The Milky Way and a red meteor in Colorado’s high country

September 12, 2022 by Tony

The Milky Way and a red meteor in Colorado’s high country
The core of the Milky Way galaxy with a red meteor streaking across the sky. (Tony’s Takes)

Perhaps we call it Milky Way Monday or Meteor Monday?

I always say astrophotography isn’t my strong suit but, despite that, I do enjoy getting out there and trying. Two weeks ago, it was a new moon and we were camped at close to 10,000 feet. That was an opportunity I couldn’t resist.

I scouted the spot I wanted to use beforehand and had it all pictured in my mind. Well, Mother Nature and another photographer kind of threw wrinkles into the plan. I had hoped for calm conditions to allow for reflections on the lake. Nope, there was wind (and it was cold!). Additionally, I wanted a huge boulder in the foreground and was going to “light paint” it with my flashlight to provide some interest. There was, however, another photographer there that had already started a time lapse so light painting was out of the question as I didn’t want to screw up his captures.

As it was, I pointed my camera toward the Milky Way and shot it as best I could. That was okay though as it was still fun and the core of our galaxy looked absolutely beautiful. To the top right you can even see a red meteor entering and burning up in our atmosphere. That glow emanating from the left are the lights from the city of Boulder.

The Super Flower Blood Moon of 2022

May 16, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

The Super Flower Blood Moon of 2022
The lunar eclipse turns the moon blood red. (© Tony’s Takes)

Lunar eclipses don’t come along too often so I always feel obligated to observe and photograph them, even if it means missing out on much-needed beauty sleep (and I need all the help I can get in that regard!).

I wasn’t too inclined to drive anywhere so I captured the event from my bedroom window last night. That actually turned out to be quite convenient as I only had to walk a few feet to get into bed afterwards. Ha!

For this image, I opted to not crop it too tight and offset the moon to the side. Turning up the ISO (sensitivity) allowed me to capture the gorgeous orange lunar eclipse among some stars.

If you missed the show, there will be another visible in North America on November 7th / 8th.

Wintertime waxing gibbous moon

February 10, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

Wintertime waxing gibbous moon
A waxing gibbous moon on a cold winter’s night in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

The other night I heard our neighborhood owls making some noise and while the light was fleeting, I am still desperate to get pics of those buggers. Well, all I came away with were some poor, distant silhouetted shots of them, nothing worth sharing.

I did, however, take a few shots of a beautiful gibbous moon above. I love the less than full moon phases as the angled light really helps give all those craters definition and pop.

Southwest Airlines photobombs my moon shot

December 28, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Southwest Airlines photobombs my moon shot
A Southwest Airlines plane flies by with the moon high above. (© Tony’s Takes)

So frustrating. I was setting up the perfect shot of the daytime waning gibbous moon as it hung gloriously in the clear blue, Colorado sky. Our only natural satellite looked fantastic up there and then, suddenly a streak of blue, gold and red comes flying through the frame. Dang it! 😀 

Okay, in all seriousness, I don’t blame the airline or pilot one bit and was actually kind of happy to have them fly by. I was looking to find a composition that included the moon when I saw the airliner approaching. Quickly I zoomed in and started snapping, capturing a nice sequence of images.

I do have to ask though… Next time Southwest Airlines, could you fly directly in front of the moon? That would make an even better shot. 😉

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