Weather | Tony's Takes Photography

“Me day” brings amazing cloud iridescence

April 5, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

I’ve been burning the candle at both ends pretty heavily lately and just needed a quick break to recharge so I took today off as a “me day.” That of course meant a morning of photography and while I got some cool critter pics to share in the coming days, there was also this.

As I waited for some action, looking to the east the clouds to the south of the sun were a veritable rainbow of colors. The iridescence coupled with the way cool shapes in the clouds was pretty darned awesome to see (but kind of hard to capture in pictures).

Cloud iridescence is caused by clouds (usually cirrus) that have small water droplets or ice crystals in them causing the light to be diffracted, or spread out. The phenomena is much like the rainbow colors seen with oil in water.

Cloud iridescence is seen toward the rising sun in Colorado. (© Tony's Takes) — Cloud iridescence is seen toward the rising sun in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Lake-side trees in the fog

March 21, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Absolutely ridiculously thick fog yesterday morning as I ventured out on my morning photo walk. At times visibility was less than 100 feet and while the sun was rising, the fog rendered everything nearly colorless. It definitely made for some moody scenes and a conversion of this image to black and white creates a cool, mystical scene. I loved the silhouetted trees and fishing platform.

Looking for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbows on St Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Well, I don’t have any pics of leprechauns or any images that are overly green and I have never been to Ireland so here is the next best thing.

Taken back in August in Arapaho National Forest, I have actually shared a similar shot of this scene previously. This one, in portrait orientation, does a nice job showing off the sky above.

We were hanging out at camp and after the evening thunderstorms passed, they put on a beautiful show to the east. The sky was dramatic, lit up nicely by the sun behind us. The double rainbow, well, that was over the top awesome just absolutely fantastic to watch.

Rivers in the ice

February 21, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

A pretty long photo drive to a spot out on Colorado’s northeastern plains yesterday. While overall it was a bit of a dud trip, at least it started out with a fantastic view.

The lake was entirely frozen over and my truck was showing a “balmy” 12 degrees as I sat and waited for the sun to pop over the horizon. There weren’t many clouds so I wasn’t expecting much of a show but it turned out pretty darned neat, no so much because of the sky, but because of the ice.

Two masses of ice had come together, pushing up against each other and allowing the lake water to flow on top. The snaking path of the re-frozen water and ice that had been pushed above made for a way cool scene.

Light pillars appear above the railyard

February 15, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Check this out! Driving to work this morning I saw these and despite the -10 degree temperature, I had to stop and snap a few pics.

Light pillars are a reflection of the light off of ice crystals in the atmosphere. We don’t see them often here in Colorado so it was a pretty unique opportunity. Unfortunately I didn’t have a tripod with me and had to get to work so these are quick, high ISO shots but still very fun to see.

Taken in north Denver, the lights are coming from the Union Pacific Railroad yard.

Light pillars rise above a railyard in Denver, Colorado. (© Tony's Takes) — Light pillars rise above a railyard in Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Winter ice coats a Colorado creek

January 6, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

What to do when you are standing around in 15 degree weather, shivering, waiting for hours for an elusive creature to appear? Point your camera down!

As we get further into the depths of winter, lakes, ponds, creeks and some rivers are icing over. As I noticed this past weekend, it creates some pretty cool shapes and crystals along the water. You really need to view these full screen and study them a bit to fully appreciate the crazy detail.

Best of all, it provided a distraction from the miserable cold and the fact I was waiting for hours for an animal that never appeared. 😉

Ice on a frozen creek in Colorado. (© Tony's Takes) — Ice on a frozen creek in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

A small but very welcome sight in Colorado

October 26, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

One of these doesn’t amount to much but Mother Nature finally blessed the Centennial State with a copious amount of snow yesterday. The precipitation was desperately needed to help settle down the record-breaking wildfires we have seen.

I headed to the backyard yesterday to try my hand at macro snowflake photography. Last spring I got my first, true, macro lens and my first attempts at the end of last season were not good. Yesterday I finally had some success capturing the delicate detail of snowflakes.

I still have a lot to learn and need to practice more but was happy to finally have some halfway decent results.

Video: Top Shots 2019 – Tony’s Favorites

January 1, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Goodbye, 2019. The last of my recap photo slideshows, this one features my personal overall ‘top 50’.

This covers the gamut of every type of picture I have taken from landscapes to wildlife to astrophotography. Some images I like because of the subject matter, some because I was pleased with the composition and others just because of the story behind them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these looks back at the previous year and hope you will follow along with me in 2020! From my family to yours, I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

Bison bull grazes under an iridescent sky

December 3, 2019 by Tony Leave a Comment

One for #TatankaTuesday taken this past weekend.

As seems to be the rule lately, temperatures were cold and conditions less than hospitable. Of course bison are well-built to handle winter conditions and this big buy was lazily pushing aside the snow to get to his breakfast.

Above him, an iridescent cloud, caused by ice crystals reflecting the sunlight. The rainbow colors were much more vivid when I first spotted it but by the time I put myself in position and stopped, they were fading. Nevertheless, there was enough of a hint to make it a cool capture.

Golden, stormy sunset over sunflowers

October 21, 2019 by Tony Leave a Comment

Now that’s a sunset, eh? Sunflowers below, storm clouds with virga above and those Rocky Mountains dominating the horizon in the distance.

I was flipping through some recent pics and came across this one taken at the end of August that I hadn’t shared yet.

I was at this spot east of Denver, Colorado primarily to photograph the sunflowers but soon I became focused on also capturing the gathering storm clouds. They didn’t produce much but they did definitely add drama to the scene.

Image available for purchase here.