SkyPix

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

Leaning with the Winds of Time

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As the marvelous Coffee Creek supercell rolled off the mountains east of Great Falls, it already provided a spectacular backdrop to another abandoned edifice a hundred yards away.   Some indefinite time, many years ago, this structure was abandoned to the whim of the winds, a fate so common to homesteaders' structures up and down the Great Plains.  Countless west winds since leaned this one in the … [Read more...]

Crepuscular and Curvy Contrail

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Less than 40 feet but more than 13 years from where I shot my archetypical image of crepuscular rays, a late-summer sunset beamed past clouds unseen in the northwest that cut its fading plane of light into rays.  A separate contrail no longer caught the pink light, the western of its two segments standing out well against the warmly lit background. Norman OK (9 Sep 16) Looking NW … [Read more...]

Spotlit Ocean

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Elusive in my earlier trips to the Washington and Oregon coasts, a suitably broken stratus deck (with no overlying clouds) finally timed just right to yield a scene I long desired to see and photograph:  crepuscular-spotlit ocean waters from a lofty vantage point.  The cliffs above Ruby Beach offered just such a view.  The different shapes of the sunlight-permitting cloud holes—linear or slit-like … [Read more...]

Lightning over Thunder Basin

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For the second time the same day, the sky of northeastern Wyoming changed quickly from something rather drab and inert to a rich cloud canvas of texture and tone, a painting in motion, courtesy of the ultimate artist aloft.  Early storms near Gillette sent out a huge gaseous puddle of cold outflow air, compelling our southward diversion in search of newer storms moving into a more favorable air … [Read more...]

Scales of Spin

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Jon Racy, John Hart and I  saw at least six tornadoes with two supercells on this major outbreak day, but under generally lousy, low-light photography conditions, after being unable to get to the Panhandle in time for the most visually striking tubes farther southwest.  Regardless, this was an outstanding storm-intercept day.  The southern of two intermittently tornadic storms recycled itself just … [Read more...]

River Rock Ripples

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Returning from a visit to the legendary Grove of the Patriarchs, in Mount Rainier National Park, I thought we had seen something amazing.  We had.  Douglas firs, western hemlocks, and western red cedars, nearly a thousand years old and sheltered on an island in the Ohanepecosh River, evoked a grand sense of smallness amidst the stately giants.  Yet setting out upon the trail, little did I realize … [Read more...]