bowtie`

Now back to the normal. Tonight's sunset. Looking west with the smoke on the horizon and not much in the way of clouds overhead... The better cloud was looking to the south...

Been awhile since I did one of these. Had a family emergency in NY and I have been away and a bit behind in processing images. These two images are from June 26th. Some interesting cloud shadows looking northwest... Still looking northwest with a broader cloud shadow...

Fireworks looks so different as a single image on an SLR. Happy Fourth!

Living on the edge of systems can bring some nice visuals. Looking southeast when I got to the pond. Taken with the 16-35mm at 25mm... The rest of the evening is oriented to the northwest and the crepuscular rays. Taken with the 100mm... More of an overview and while dim the rays were very broad. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm... As the color was diminishing. Taken with the 100mm... Good night my darlin', where ever you are...

The race was on this evening of the clouds versus the dry air. Looking northwest as I got to the pond. Taken with the 165-35mm at 30mm... Close to local sunset. Taken with the 100mm... Inverting the GND I got this image. Taken with the 100mm... Last call for color. Taken with the 24-70mm at 51mm...

Plenty of clouds again this evening. Some nice pastel colors also. Start off looking northeast as the yellow was starting off in the lower levels. Taken with the 16-35mm at 19mm... Moving over slightly to the southeast. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm... Looking to the east as the pastel orange and red start to take over. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm... A quick gander to the northwest and in your face reds of the post sunset. Taken with the 100mm... Last image of the night is back to the southeast and the more subtle pastel colors with the Moon off in the corner. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm... Cheers!

Plenty of clouds led to plenty of images this evening. Some weak crepuscular rays to start things off. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm... Some nice color dynamics with all the different cloud heights and types. Taken with the 16-35mm at 24mm... Best crepuscular rays of the night. Taken with the 16-35mm at 27mm... Sometimes I just like the design. Taken with the 16-35mm at 30mm... Start of the gold with the yellow. Taken with the 16-35mm at 26mm... Last image of the night. As the Sun dips behind the warehouse. Taken with the 100mm... Cheers!

With the storm line unzipping just to my east and south, was able to get some nice storm cloud images tonight. Some distant mammatus to my east... The out-flow winds are very evident here. Look at all the striations in the clouds...

The storm line unzipped right to my east and south this evening. ANd with a little bit of clear sky to the west, it made for a rather photogenic evening for looking at the backside of clouds. When I got to the pond looking south at the tail-end Charlie cell. Taken with the 16-35mm at 16mm... Looking to the east. You can see they have started with the structural steel at the new building. Going to shred my views to the east soon. Taken with the 16-35mm at 26mm... The red looking to the east. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm... Ending the evening back to the south like I started. But this time it is with the fading pinks and the start of the incidental light and the Moon overlooking it all. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm...

Got to use each of my three lens this evening. Started off with the 24-70mm at 46mm... As the Sun fell into the convection in Illinois I switched to the 16-35mm at 35mm... Ended the evening with the 100mm... Cheers!

Busy day behind the viewfinder. Started off with some afternoon cumulus. Looking northeast. Taken with the 16-35mm at 16mm... More afternoon cumulus looking southeast. Taken with the 16-35mm at 27mm... The sunset had very little to it. Just some contrail remnants and a bit of smoke on the western horizon. Taken with the 100mm...

I went out to the pond just in case the cirrus (which as south of me, between Jasper, IN and the KY border) was close enough to image. It really was not that close but there was something else to make it sort of interesting. It looked like smoke, dark but transparent. and it was co-mingled with the slight color to the south. And the Sun did not illuminate it. Was it from that huge chemical fire in Illinois? Canadian wildfires? I have no idea but it was sure there. When the cirrus was yellow. Taken with the 100mm... When the cirrus was red. Taken with the 100mm again...

Once again it rains just enough to dampen the road but not enough to even click my tippy bucket once to 0.01". That spot of drought yellow over my county is not going anywhere as long as this keeps up.

Coming home from dinner, saw a cell that looked like it should run over my house and town. But darn if that thing did not do a "Left turn Clyde". and zipped right to the west of me. So I only have two images tonight taken from my house as it opened up a bit as that cell passed by. Looking northeast and my house and trees. Taken with the 16-35mm at 29mm... Looking northwest as the color was fading. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm...

After a smattering of rain during dinner time, I saw just a little bit of color in the sky around 9 p.m. so I made a quick run to the pond. Because of the rain I did not want to slog through the mud so I just stayed on the asphalt close to the firehouse. So no water nor reflections, just clouds baby! What it looked like to the northwest when I got there. Taken with the 16-35mm at 25mm... A close up of the color. taken with the 100mm... I thought the best color was looking to the northeast at the glowing embers located right above the firehouse. Taken with the 16-35mm at 26mm...

Another busy hour or so behind the viewfinder again tonight. Started off right as I pulled in the driveway from work. The Sun got temporarily eclipsed by a cloud. Had a somewhat decent cloud shadow to it. Taken with the 24-70mm at 68mm... What it looked like when I first got out to the pond later. Taken with the 16-35mm at 22mm... Close to local sunset as the Sun dips behind the warehouse. Taken with the 16-35mm at 27mm... The myriad of color in this image really struck me. The green tinge on the horizon is extra special. Taken with the 16-35mm at 29mm... The red flash was nice. Started off in the northeast. Taken with the 16-35mm at 31mm... Here is the red, later, in the northwest sky. Taken with the 16-25mm at 28mm... Cheers!

After dinner I could not make up my mind. Water the flower bed or head out to the pond for some clouds. I picked the clouds. Big surprise, right? A cumulus clouds turning yellow looking to the southeast. Taken with the 100mm... Looking to the southwest. Got my friend the muskrat in this image. He/she has ruined so many of my images figured I should showcase him/her for once. Taken with the 100mm... The beginning of the incidental light. I like the tad bit of rosey color behind the cumulus. Taken with the 100mm... Switched lens to get more of an overview. Taken with the 16-35mm at 35mm... These last two images the color is all kinds of over the top. But it is showing something I do not get to image very often. Over-the-horizon crepuscular rays and even the rarer anti-crepuscular rays. This one shows the anti-crepuscular rays as it is looking to the southeast. Taken with the 16-35mm at 17mm... Here is a look to the northwest at how strong that one ray was. Taken with the 16-35mm at 29mm... Cheers!

Tonight was a case of a cloud shield to the south and a clearing trend to the north and west. And here I was stuck in the middle with you. Sometimes the best place as far as cloud watching. Started off looking northeast when I got out to the pond. The light always seems to be kind to the east as I show up recently. Taken with the 16-35mm at 29mm... Just going to skip right to the color. This is close to local sunset. The last sliver of the Sun above the warehouse. Taken with the 16-35mm at 27mm... Beginning of the yellow. After this shot I decided I needed to move more to the north to be able to see all of the color to the south. Taken with the 16-35mm at 17mm... Now at the fisherman's point for the beginning of the orange. Taken with the 16-35mm at 17mm... The red overhead to orange on the horizon. Taken with the 16-35mm at 34mm... And ending the night with the fading red. Taken with the 16-35mm at 21mm... Good night my darlin', where ever your are...

The lake breeze is your friend.

Had the perfect amount of clouds overhead this evening. When I got to the pond, looking east. Very photogenic. Taken with the 16-35mm at 19mm... To the west I had the perfect amount of cirrus. Taken with the 16-35mm at 17mm... It is too bad that the convection in northern Illinois shut off the post sunset light. It could have been epic with all the cirrus overhead. About the best the color would do, and that is not saying much. Taken with the 16-35mm at 23mm... By this last image of the evening everything had turned so blue that I just went ahead and made a B&W out if it. Taken with the 16-35mm at 17mm...

I thought there might be a chance for some decent color right after sunset and I guessed right. Glad I made the effort. Just going to start with the yellow right after the Sun rounded to corner of the horizon. Taken with the 24-70mm at 42mm... Moved over the the southside of the pond seeing how a lot of the color was more towards the north. Taken with the 16-35mm at 25mm... During the orange there were some very distinct cloud shadows. Taken with the 24-70mm at 54mm... And ending the evening with the red. Taken with the 24-70mm at 30mm... Good night my darlin' where ever you are...

Only one image tonight also. An absence of clouds is still a sky condition, right? Anyways, right after sunset there was something close to the horizon. Almost looked like smoke but it did not dim the Sun while the Sun was above the horizon so was it haze brought up by the system to my south? You could see whatever it wwas on the sub-regional portion of the visible satellite. It was even all across from Ohio to Iowa. Anyway here is what it is. Taken with the 100mm at 100mm of course...

The visual satellite has the death ridge look to it today.

out west, yes.

I told myself that I was not going to go out to the pond this evening. I was going to stay home and catch up on the some sleep. Then what did I do? I went out to the pond anyway. I do not think, I know I have a problem. Guess I can be a rumblin' zombie at work tomorrow. Only one image this evening. Was a sparse night post sunset. Only some cirrus off to the east. So I got the cirrus and a little bit of the "belt of Venus". Taken with the 16-35mm at 21mm...