SkyPix

A digital photographic storybook of clouds, weather and water by Roger Edwards.

Moon off Kailua

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The ingredients for this splendid Hawaiian twilight spectacle were many:  multiple cloud decks (shallow stratocumulus under altocumulus, layered above volcanic "vog"), the waxing moon with lunar corona, post-sunset reds and yellows painting the distant sky, and a placid Pacific Ocean.  In the distance, barely rising above the sound of the gentle breeze, a ukelele played, courtesy of some anonymous … [Read more...]

Copper Moon Twilight

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Lunar eclipses are fairly common, but to catch one at dawn...not so much.   A few rooftop observers at the National Weather Center were fortunate enough on this morning to witness the spectacle of the copper moon in total eclipse, amidst the growing light of dawn.  The reddish glow comes from light passed through Earth's atmosphere ("sunset light" to us), then reflected off our moon's surface.  … [Read more...]

Ocean Shadow and Light

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Light and shadow slow-dance across the ocean below the ubiquitous marine stratocumulus deck that often covers much of the northeastern Pacific, with sporadic forays southwestward over Hawaii's nearshore waters.  I love the spotlit-ocean effect!  This looks like an aerial image, but no—instead the vantage was looking down from the high volcanic plateau flanking Mauna Loa's southwestern ridge that … [Read more...]

Colors of Bryce Canyon

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Sentinels in soft stone, the spires, pinnacles, hoodoos and rock towers of Bryce Canyon, all carved intricately by water and wind, stand stately and brilliantly in the diffused natural light of thin, high cloud cover.  Such light diffuses itself around the landscape and into shadows, softening the otherwise harsh contrast innate to the desert setting, and rendering a pastel-painted look to the … [Read more...]

Silver Falls in Flood

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Roaring through its canyon, swollen with rain-driven snowmelt, the Ohanepecosh River carved its path some imperceptible measure deeper through the volcanic substrate on its way to the Pacific.  In the rain, the light was ideal for photographing such a torrent and the surrounding forest in one short time exposure, as overcast conditions tend to diffuse light more evenly throughout the scene.  And … [Read more...]

Serrated Arcus

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[Part 2 of 4] A high-based, sharply defined, jagged-edged shelf cloud surges southeastward over the high plains of eastern Colorado, from a supercell evolving into an outflow-blasting multicell.  In this region, a lack of richer subcloud humidity and haze usually helps to reduce the condensation down to a very sculpted form, representing only the strongest fingers and slabs of lift.  It's an … [Read more...]