Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
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.
Going back to the end of August for this pic. I and some photo friends had spent the evening photographing the sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado with a few thunderstorms rolling through.
Even after the sun had dropped below the horizon, some of us hung around, enjoying the light and sound show Mother Nature was putting on in the sky above. I’d intermittently snap a few pics, hoping to catch a bolt or two and as luck would have it, I managed to grab this capture of a series of bolts – I love the ‘curley Q’ in the big one.
I used a long, 30 second exposure to maximize my chances of getting something. That indeed worked although with the wind the flowers ended up being blurred. Nevertheless, I think it is kind of a cool capture.
A little bit of lightning fun on the plains of Colorado.
I was a bit late getting to this spot yesterday evening and missed much of the show. Thankfully, I did get there in time to get a few cool captures.
The thunderstorms were quite strong and very electrified sending many bolts to the ground. Throw in the orange glow of the setting sun and the flowers and it was pretty neat.
I don’t have a lightning trigger so just have to keep snapping pics repeatedly hoping lightning pops at the right time.
What a great way to end a fantastic day on the water!
We were returning to Seward, Alaska after eight hours or so touring Kenai Fjords National Park. A quick rain shower chased us inside but then I looked out and saw this incredibly colorful and dramatic display.
Rain wasn’t going to stop me from getting a pic of that! I grabbed my camera, ran out onto the deck and started clicking. My images really don’t do it justice either. The rainbow was one of the most bright I have ever seen.
Just extraordinary!
I am back from some much needed R & R in San Isabel National Forest overlooking Buena Vista, Colorado. I didn’t take many pics as family and relaxation were higher priorities but the skies in many of the evenings demanded attention.
This one from this past Friday. Mount Princeton is front and center. If I am not mistaken, Mount Yale is the tallest peak to the right then moving back left of Princeton, Mount Antero and Mount Shavano are the two most prominent on that side.
No matter their names, the view was awesome! Oh, and believe it or not, the next night we had snow!
June means severe weather season here in Colorado and that can make for some fun afternoons. Today, we had a nice thunderstorm move through and, thankfully, no big hail.
After the storm passed, the clouds to the east looked awesome with bits of mammatus mixed in with the formations.
I tried my best to get some lightning shots but failed. It seemed no matter which way I pointed my camera, the bolts were the opposite way. 😉
A throwback image taken in June 2012. Yesterday we got our first taste of severe weather for the year and while it didn’t deliver much more than heavy rain and small hail, it certainly got my adrenaline pumping.
I haven’t been able to do much storm chasing at all in recent years. I go to work very early in the morning and coming home at midnight after a chase to the Colorado / Kansas border and then functioning at work the next day just isn’t possible.
I do need to try to head out on those ‘backyard’ chases close to home as oftentimes you don’t have to go far to at least get some nice storm structures.
This particular chase was near Simla, Colorado in an area near the Palmer Divide that is famous for seeing gorgeous storms. The storm did generate an EF-2 tornado which we only saw briefly as it was heavily wrapped in rain. While I didn’t get any salvageable images of that, the structure of the storm was impressive.
A very pretty morning on the plains yesterday as our latest snowstorm moved out. Colors were subdued with the lingering clouds so I went to black and white for this one and am pleased with the result. This tree really stood out as the only feature on the snow-covered plains. Sometimes to stand out, you just need to stand apart.
Take your pick but I am WAY excited about this scene this morning – a rare sun pillar. I have only seen pictures of them and could not believe it when I saw this appearing east of Denver, Colorado this morning. I didn’t have time to seek out a better foreground but am not complaining.
If you’re interested in owning one of these images, see here and here.
What causes the phenomena? According to EarthSky.org, “Sun pillars or light pillars form when sunlight (or another bright light source) reflects off the surfaces of millions of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds, for example, cirrostratus clouds. The ice crystals have roughly horizontal faces. They are falling through Earth’s atmosphere, rocking slightly from side to side.”
A very cool scene in the skies east of the Denver area this morning. These iridescent clouds lingered for a long time and provided a diversion while I was waiting for critters. We actually had some at sunset last night as well. 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.
