Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Setting “Bison moon” at sunrise

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Bison graze under the setting Full Cold Moon on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
Bison graze under the setting Full Cold Moon on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

Technically the full moon this month was called the Full Cold Moon. However, as it set early in the morning Sunday, I happened across this scene. It seems fitting to post it now for Tatanka Thursday. 😉

The sun was just started to climb over the horizon and shed its golden light on the landscape and the creatures below. Above, a cloud layer but not low enough to obscuring the setting moon. In the background, the Rocky Mountains were waiting for their chance to see some sun.

Taken at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

Shooting the moon

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The waning gibbous moon is seen over Colorado on a fall morning. (© Tony’s Takes)
The waning gibbous moon is seen over Colorado on a fall morning. (© Tony’s Takes)

A gorgeous waning gibbous moon recently. As I sat waiting for the sun to rise and light to spread so I could take pictures, I pointed my camera toward our only natural satellite. Those clear, Colorado skies provided prime viewing and a nice pic.

Sunrise colors the clouds as the moon sets

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The sunrise in the east colors the clouds to the west over the Colorado Front Range. (© Tony’s Takes)
The sunrise in the east colors the clouds to the west over the Colorado Front Range. (© Tony’s Takes)

An absolutely gorgeous morning yesterday along the Colorado Front Range. While we enjoyed a quiet morning, our mountains were once again getting pounded by snow. There weren’t many clouds to the east where the sun was rising but to the west, the storm had settled in over the high country. The pastel colored clouds with the setting moon and even a couple of deer made for a nice scene.

Daytime waning gibbous moon

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A daytime waning gibbous moon as seen from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A daytime waning gibbous moon as seen from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

A random capture from this past weekend in the Rocky Mountains. I was actually watching some nearby creatures when I looked around and saw the moon, crystal clear and looming above. I couldn’t resist swinging by tripod head around and snapping a few captures.

Daytime waning crescent moon

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While full moon’s are beautiful and get the most attention, the light tends to be so bright and direct that it hides the details of our natural satellite. During the other phases though, the light isn’t as direct and helps to really make features pop. In this image, taken yesterday morning not long after sunrise, you get a really nice feel for the ‘texture’ of the moon and can see the details of the craters much better.

A waning crescent moon is seen in the daytime skies over Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A waning crescent moon is seen in the daytime skies over Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

The setting moon at sunrise

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The setting moon at sunrise. A very pretty scene this past Saturday. As the sun rose in the east and cast its warming rays on the landscape, to the west, everything was aglow and a setting near-full moon dotted those beautiful blue skies. Taken at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

As the sunrise illuminates the landscape, the full moon sets in the west. (© Tony’s Takes)
As the sunrise illuminates the landscape, the full moon sets in the west. (© Tony’s Takes)

Fall colors and the daytime crescent moon

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At the end of my photo drive this past Sunday, I swung through St. Vrain State Park, Colorado. There was one particular spot that had a number of birch trees absolutely with absolutely gorgeous fall foliage. I hopped out and shot those trees from just about every angle possible with my wide angle lens. At one point, I glanced up and see the somewhat faint crescent moon through the canopy of leaves. It looked awesome against that deep blue Colorado sky so I went back to my truck and grabbed my other camera with my big zoom lens and returned to capture a bunch of images of our only natural satellite and the leaves.

Fall foliage and the daytime crescent moon in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Fall foliage and the daytime crescent moon in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

A smokey full moon

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Taken during the Harvest Moon last week. As I have written about and posted pictures of recently, smoke from wildfires in Oregon and Montana blanketed Colorado for the better part of a week. While the cause is saddening, this led to some awesome colors at sunrise, sunset and in this case, a moonrise.

The September full moon is colored in orange from smoke from wildfires in Montana and Oregon. (© Tony’s Takes)
The September full moon is colored in orange from smoke from wildfires in Montana and Oregon. (© Tony’s Takes)

Panorama of the stages of Eclipse 2017

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Stepping outside my comfort zone here and piggybacking on some ideas for collages I saw online. This one takes 11 images of the various stages of the solar eclipse from start to finish as seen from Goshen County, Wyoming. I am far from a Photoshop pro as I rarely need to use it for most of my work but this one came out pretty good I think.

All images taken with my Canon 7D Mark II and a Sigma 150-600 Sports.

A collage of images of the various stages of the Great American Eclipse. (© Tony’s Takes)
A collage of images of the various stages of the Great American Eclipse. (© Tony’s Takes)

Partial phases of Eclipse 2017

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Three years ago my brother mentioned the eclipse to me and we said then we were going to go and I am so thankful that I did. For the photography I did a lot of reading, planning and practicing and it panned out. I captured the event from start to finish and overall think the pics came out quite well.

Here is a series of eight images together – the top four showing the eclipse beginning and the bottom four showing it ending. Me thinks a trip to Texas in 2024 may be in order! 😉

Various stages of the partially eclipsed sun during the Great American Eclipse. (© Tony’s Takes)
Various stages of the partially eclipsed sun during the Great American Eclipse. (© Tony’s Takes)