A couple of weeks ago I shared a capture of a spectacular sundog that remained in the air for more than two hours. Since it was so long-lived, I was able to take a ton of shots of it from various locations and had the chance to try some different compositions. Here are three more looks at it, this time showing only one side of it. One is a closer look where the sundog met the horizon. The other two are just a couple of compositions I liked with the trees in the foreground. I still smile when I think about that morning and how much fun I had running around in the sub-zero temperatures.
Sundog lights up the sky on a bitterly cold morning
The thermometer on my truck was reading -11 degrees when this picture was taken. As much as it pained me to leave the warmth of my truck, I simply had to venture into the cold (multiple times) to capture this scene in the sky.
This sundog was the most persistent I have ever seen. I initially got pictures of it at 7:40am. My last one was at 9:46am. It would wane and sometimes disappear briefly but then reappear so I got tons of pics of it from different spots. This was my favorite as it was well-defined and the icy pond with steam coming off below provides some interest in the foreground.
Sun dogs are caused by the refraction of light by ice crystals and appear 22 degrees to each side of the sun. I have had a few chances to grab pics of one, always on the coldest of mornings.
Sun dog amid record-setting cold in Denver
Oops! Somehow I forgot to share this one.
Late last month, Colorado saw itself experiencing a deep freeze. On the morning of the 22nd, temperatures dipped to 15 degrees below zero with wind chills far below that – absolutely brutal cold. As the sun rose over the horizon that morning, a very cool sun dog appeared to the east. I missed the best of the show but was able to catch the tail end of it before it disappeared.
Sun dogs are caused by the refraction of light by ice crystals and appear 22 degrees to each side of the sun. I have had a few chances to grab pics of one, always on the coldest of mornings.
Denver sun dog
A bit of a treat on a cold morning as a sun dog appeared not long after the sun rose. The area at my work doesn’t make for a particularly photogenic foreground but it was still fun to see and capture.
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