Tagged With: Sky

Waxing Crescent Moon

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 20, 2018 by Henry
Waxing Crescent Moon

Waxing Crescent Moon

The new moon was four days ago, on January 16. The synodic period (the amount of time between full moons, or new moons or whatever) is 29 days, 12 hours, and about 44 minutes. The sidereal orbit (the orbit around the earth without regard to the relative position of the sun) is a little more than two days shorter than that, of course. In the time it takes the moon to circle the earth, the earth has moved almost one twelfth of the way around the sun and it takes the moon that extra two-plus days to get back into the same position relative to the sun and the earth. During the first quarter of the cycle, the moon is a growing (waxing) crescent (less than half visible). The second quarter it is waxing gibbous (more than half visible).

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Tree Tops

Photograph taken on Friday, February 02, 2018 by Henry
Tree Tops

Tree Tops

It’s been wintry again, which is alright by me, especially seeing as how it’s winter. Our winters are relatively mild compared to some but colder than others, which is sort of what living in a temperate climate is all about, I guess. I pretty much stayed in my office today, with a brief walk across campus and back for a meeting. Other than that I was focused on the task at hand. I took a short break in the early afternoon to take a few pictures but didn’t leave my office to do it. This is the top of a fairly large elm tree on the side of our parking lot. There are two of them that have managed to hold out against Dutch Elm Disease and this is the smaller of the two. They’re likely to go at some point but I’ll enjoy them until that day comes.

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Evening Clouds

Photograph taken on Sunday, February 18, 2018 by Henry
Evening Clouds

Evening Clouds

The evening sky showed a lot of promise of a spectacular sunset. Starting at a little before 5:15 PM I waited and watched. Every now and then I’d take a picture of the clouds and the beautiful blue sky, anticipating how it would look when the clouds turned a bright orange as the sun dipped behind the horizon. This photo was taken about two minutes before official sunset but sunset colors are just after. This evening, however, most of the clouds were gone shortly after this photo was taken. What clouds were left went from white to pale gray without any color in between. It took about 3 seconds for the light to go out.

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More Evening Clouds

Photograph taken on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 by Henry
Evening Clouds

Evening Clouds

The other day (see Sunday, February 18, 2018) I was waiting and hoping for a spectacular sunset that never materialized. This evening, as I came out of the grocery store, there were a few clouds in the west. They were only slightly colored and not particularly spectacular but I was pretty sure tonight’s sunset wasn’t going to amount to anything, either. I figured pictures taken then would be as good as I was going to get. I was right. Sorry about that. Maybe next time.

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Waxing Gibbous Moon

Photograph taken on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 by Henry
Waxing Gibbous Moon

Waxing Gibbous Moon

A little over five weeks ago I posted a picture of a waxing crescent moon, seen through trees and taken from my mother-in-law’s house. Today’s post is a waxing gibbous moon, although seen through tree branches but this time taken from out front yard. I had been out taking pictures of Eranthis hyemalis (winter aconite) and then noticed the moon. So, you’ll have to wait for another flower picture in favor of this one. The moon is nearing full and was quite lovely against the darkening blue of the sky and set off by the branches of a red oak tree (Quercus rubra) in our front yard.

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Sunset

Photograph taken on Friday, March 02, 2018 by Henry
Sunset

Sunset

When it comes to taking a picture every day, there are—as you’ve probably noticed—when I have a hard time finding something to photograph. I could easily skip those days and no one would really miss them. On the other hand, by forcing myself to take pictures every day, I get out more often than I would. If I could say to myself, “It doesn’t matter if you go out today. You can just skip today like you’ve skipped other days.” But when I haven’t skipped other days, that won’t work.

Sunset

Sunset

Days when there are events are easier because I generally know I’ll be able to take pictures of people. Tonight was such an event and consequently I didn’t bother taking pictures all day. Instead I worked in my basement, sorting old papers and things (mine this time). I was pretty sure there would be people I know that I could photograph in the evening. Then, after driving to Bethesda with Cathy and Margaret, and after they went inside, I parked the car and saw the sunset. I still took pictures inside but these are going to be enjoyed by more people than pictures of people that a lot of folks don’t know. Not that a lot of folks actually see them, but whatever.

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Clouds at Dusk

Photograph taken on Wednesday, March 07, 2018 by Henry
Clouds at Dusk

Clouds at Dusk

Cathy and I went to work together today. Since she had an appointment during the day, she took the car, which meant she picked me up after work. The front of my building faces northeast, so the wrong way, generally, to get sunset pictures. Nevertheless, there was a little color in the clouds low in the sky, behind the trees along the edge of the parking lot. I have to say, I’m really happy about the woods next to my building. I don’t get out into them as often as I might but if there were another building with its inevitable parking lot, it would be a terribly boring place. As it is, this small piece of land has been sitting idle for about 25 years. There is a sign on the corner advertising the upcoming development. That’s been unchanged for at least 15 years. One day it will be bulldozed and paved, but for now, it’s a nice bit of parkland.

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Sunset

Photograph taken on Thursday, March 15, 2018 by Henry
Sunset

Sunset

There were pretty clouds in the west this evening and I took some pictures of them even before it got close to time for the sun to set. Those pictures were my insurance, in case the sunset itself wasn’t anything worth photographing. As it turned out, it was worth photographing, though. The clouds turned their characteristic orange and were quite spectacular for a good fifteen minutes or so. As you might expect, I took quite a few pictures and that usually makes it hard to pick just one to post for the day. This is a representative sample.

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Windy Sunset

Photograph taken on Wednesday, April 04, 2018 by Henry
Windy Sunset

Windy Sunset

The wind was really whipping the tree tops around this evening and I thought I’d try to get a picture that showed that movement, at least a little. It didn’t work out as well as I would have liked but the clouds behind the trees were pretty, so that helps make up for it. If you look at the top branches on the right you can see that they are blurred. That’s because of the movement. There were a few pictures that showed the movement better than this one but even on those it was a bit too subtle. And this one has prettier clouds, so there you are.

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Lake Frank and Clouds

Photograph taken on Thursday, April 19, 2018 by Henry
Lake Frank and Clouds

Lake Frank and Clouds

I stopped at the Avery Road parking lot above Lake Frank on the way home today. It was a beautiful, cool afternoon with—as you can see—billowy white clouds. This was taken with the sun at my back, looking northeast over the lake. I took a few the other direction, as well. This would be a good spot for sunset pictures, although it’s not somewhere you can just drive up to. It’s a few minutes walk down from the parking area. Still, if I am on my way home and there’s a good sunset coming on, it might be worth a try to get here in time. Of course, sunsets around the time I’m coming home are mostly a winter thing.

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Rainbow

Photograph taken on Thursday, May 31, 2018 by Henry
Rainbow

Rainbow

I went to my mom’s after work and while I was there we had a bit of a storm blow through. There was lightning (as close as about a half mile) and very heavy rain for about half an hour. I stuck around until the rain let up so I wouldn’t get soaked getting back to my car. Then, on the way home, the sun began to come out and I started looking for a rainbow. When I got to Norbeck, I saw it, so I pulled into the Safeway parking lot and took a picture or three. In some that I took with the 100mm lens you can see supernumerary bands inside the lower ark. I decided, though, that I’d post this one, showing two more or less complete arcs. By the way, none of this ROYGBIV nonsense. The proper mnemonic is VIBGYOR.

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Storm Clouds

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 09, 2018 by Henry
Storm Clouds

Storm Clouds

We spent much of the day working in Cathy’s mom’s house, mostly going through things in the store room in the basement. Where many people have attics that are used to keep things that are never touched but which they don’t want to throw away, this house has a large room in the basement with shelves on both sides. The near end, while somewhat claustrophobic, is at least accessible and the Christmas decorations, at least, are moved in and out annually. The rear half, however, is more of a mystery. There are trucks and barrels, some of which probably haven’t been opened since they were put there, as many as fifty years ago. It turns out that some of them were infiltrated by mice while others were not. Those that were are nearly or entirely a lost cause. Others, though, seem to have protected their contents which are still in virtually the same condition as when they were stored.

Rather than show you any of that, however, I’d decided to post this photo of a portion of the clouds that were forming as we drove home at about twenty to six.

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A Fine Summer’s Day

Photograph taken on Thursday, June 14, 2018 by Henry
A Fine Summer's Day

A Fine Summer’s Day

I was across campus to have lunch with a few people today and then went for a short walk in the woods next to my office. I took some pictures of tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) leaves and then crossed the creek and went up to the more open part of the property. There were some areas that were still quite wet from the recent rains we’ve had. The ground around here is predominately heavy clay and water doesn’t percolate very quickly into it, particularly once it is waterlogged. This is a drainage catch basin and later in the summer it will likely be completely dry. For now, though, it’s a haven for birds and dragonflies and a small oasis in an otherwise built-up (although suburban) area.

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Moon at Sunset

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 24, 2018 by Henry
Moon at Sunset

Moon at Sunset

We spent more time at Cathu’s mom’s house today. David and Maggie are on their way home and Dorothy leave tomorrow to go back to Massachusetts but we were able to straighten up a few things and bring the items Dorothy wanted back to our house. It was warm and the house still has no air conditioning but the contractor is scheduled to come on Thursday to put in a new one. Shortly after we got home it started raining and there was a rainbow. I took a few pictures of that, although they didn’t turn out terribly well. Then a little later, as the sun set, there were some pretty clouds. They were losing their color by the time they got near enough to the moon for a picture, but a few made it before the color was entirely gone.

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Sunset

Photograph taken on Friday, July 06, 2018 by Henry
Sunset

Sunset

Sometimes you can see things lining up to make a nice sunset. Of course, even when things look right, it doesn’t happen, but this evening I could tell it was coming and it came. I took a few pictures of the clouds before there were any colors, just in case, but the colors came. The color extended pretty much over the entire sky from west to east. This photo was taken looking almost straight up with a 10mm lens (which on my APS-C-sensor camera is equivalent to a 16mm lens on a full frame sensor). The top of the tree showing at the top of the photo is behind me.

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Ocean Isle Water Tower at Sunset

Photograph taken on Monday, July 30, 2018 by Henry
Ocean Isle Water Tower at Sunset

Ocean Isle Water Tower at Sunset

We were preparing to go to the Whites’ house, just a little way down the beach, when the sun was setting. There were a couple guys working on the top of the water tower near where we were staying and as the clouds were moving past, there were occasional flashes of lightning and distant thunder. None of is was closer than three or four miles but if it were me up there it would have made me a bit nervous. Anyway, I took some pictures of the water tower with the sunset color in the clouds behind it. It was pretty impressive. Of course, if I had gotten a picture of lightning striking the tower it would have been both amazing and tragic. Fortunately for those guys, it didn’t happen.

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Anniversary Sunset

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 18, 2018 by Henry
Anniversary Sunset

Anniversary Sunset

Today is Cathy and my 34th anniversary. We spent much of the day working on going through things in our garage and then at her mom’s house, getting more things out and into our slightly more organized garage. There’s more to go and this seems to be never ending but the day will come when we have finished and it’s all behind us. In the evening, though, we went out to Baronessa, a little Italian restaurant that we enjoy. There was a large group (I counted 29 people) celebrating a woman’s 90th birthday, but we were able to get a table and have a nice meal. As we left, the sun was setting in the west (where it usually sets). So, this is our Anniversary Sunset.

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Clouds

Photograph taken on Friday, August 31, 2018 by Henry
Clouds

Clouds

We met our good friends Krystal and Mike for dinner this evening at Villa Maya Restaurant. Cathy and I got there a few minutes early, which turned out to be really good, as it meant we didn’t have to wait long for a table. Before we went in, I took a moment to take a few pictures of the clouds to the south, which were building up to an impressive height. I really love clouds and especially those that are really moving, whether they are moving horizontally or growing taller, as these were doing. Dinner was wonderful. Well, the food was fine. The company was as good as it gets.

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Sunset

Photograph taken on Friday, September 14, 2018 by Henry
Sunset

Sunset

We had a really lovely sunset this evening. There were clouds at two different levels. The higher clouds were lit by the setting sun while the lower clouds were mostly grey. The lower clouds, however, were scattered and you could see the upper clouds through the gaps between them. Also, they lower clouds were moving very quickly, both in absolute terms and relative to the higher clouds. It was quite beautiful and changed from moment to moment. There were also at least two bats flying around the yard, hopefully eating mosquitoes. There’s one in this picture, although I’m not sure I could identify it as a bat from the photographic evidence if I hadn’t seen it while I was taking the picture.

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Sunset

Photograph taken on Tuesday, November 06, 2018 by Henry
Sunset

Sunset

Cathy and I left work a little early and we took her mom and all went to vote this evening. The lines were not too long, which was nice and especially so since we were told that it had been pretty busy all day. As we were leaving, I didn’t want to hang around because I could see the sunset was shaping up to be something really nice and I hadn’t brought my camera with me. I didn’t expect to need it on the short drive to the elementary school and back and I hadn’t considered that there might be something like this waiting for me.

When we got home, I rushed to the back yard and took a few dozen photos. It just got better and better. The clouds were moving to the north east quite quickly so the sky was changing patterns even faster than it was changing colors. This vertical shot was taken with the 100mm lens, looking between the trees almost due west. I had a hard time picking one from all the good pictures I got.

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