Suburban Sunrise

This sunrise picture was taken early in May from the corner of a suburban street that clings to the side of a steep valley. The corner lies at the top of the hill, and the street drops away sharply as it descends into the valley - hence, each successive house in the foreground appears to be lower than the one before it.

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This arrangement left a clear view across the valley, obstructed only by the dark outlines of overhead telephone cables, to where the very early morning sun was making its first appearance above the distant hills as it burned a brilliant golden hole through the clouds.

The pale blue sky contrasted nicely with the pinks and golds of the clouds, creating a sense of calm that offset the dramatic brilliance of the sunrise and the sharp outlines of the sleeping dwellings in the foreground.

For all I'm not fond of early mornings, I'm coming around to the idea that sunrise photos have a dramatic potential that is not often matched at other times of day. Shame it has to happen so early!

PP

Cumulus Mediocris

This cloud picture shows a bubbling heap of cauliflower-shaped Cumulus Mediocris massing in the middle distance.

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Taken around lunchtime one day in early May, the clouds are framed by a gap in some nearby trees which conceal the more distant city over which they are looming. The day was one of those changeable, sunny / rainy days that never seems to stay the same for two minutes together, as the clear blue patches of sky between the clouds show.

Sunlight bathed the trees at the moment I took the picture, but just a few minutes earlier they had been bathed in a more traditionally wet manner, and would be so again when those ominous clouds arrived to blot out the sun and begin a new downpour.

PP

Altocumulus Lenticularis

Taken towards the end of  warm and sunny mid-April afternoon, this cloud picture shows and interesting batch of elongated, smooth-looking clouds which I tentatively believe to be Altocumulus Lenticularis, although, as always, I could be wrong about that.

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Nestling amongst the ever-present contrails, and lit by the late afternoon sun, these striking clouds caught my attention as I popped into my local supermarket. I don't recall ever having spotted any lenticular clouds before, certainly not in such a prominent position, and I couldn't resist capturing them for posterity before grabbing my groceries.

PP

Cumulus Humilis at Dawn

More early morning cloud photography for today's post. Taken before 6 AM on an early May morning, this shy picture features some low-lying fluffy white clouds tinged pinky-gold by the rising sun.

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The effect a sky full of clouds like this was incredibly beautiful, their colours and shapes contrasting nicely with the deep blue of the early-morning sky. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely certain what type of clouds they are. At first I thought they were Altocumulus Floccus, but they seem to be a little to widely distributed to fit into that category, and their flattish bases and overall "flattened" appearance suggests Cumulus Humilis instead.

I could easily be wrong about that, but, either way, the clouds in this sky picture made a pretty start to the day!

PP

Contrail Collection

A warm, sunny afternoon in late April, a clear blue sky, and a whole bunch of contrails. As I've said before, it's sometimes difficult to grasp just how much air traffic passes over a major city in even a short space of time, but, on a calm, clear day, the evidence speaks for itself.

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This picture of contrails covers just a small portion of the sky and a short period of time, and yet a significant proportion of the sky is obscured by fuzzy white trials. It's long been suggested that abundant contrails may, cumulatively, be sufficient to have an adverse effect on surface temperatures, as the article "Clouds Caused By Aircraft Exhaust May Warm The U.S. Climate" (Science Daily, April 28, 2004) points out.

I'm not qualified to know whether there's any truth in such theories, but it's difficult to ignore the sheer number of contrails drifting overhead, day and night!

PP

Altocumulus Floccus At Dusk

This picture of Altocumulus Floccus clouds lurking just above the setting sun was taken at dusk one evening in late April.

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The sun's dying rays cast a pinkish glow on the underside of the little fluffy tufts of cloud, leaving other, even lower clouds to languish in shadowy grayness. This picture of clouds in the sky was taken after a day of rain and generally gloomy skies, and the late splash of colour was a welcome reminder that the sky is capable of delivering more than a good soaking.

PP

Sports-field Sunrise

Goodness me! It's been a month since I last had time to update this blog, but that doesn't mean there's been any lack of material to post! Far from it, in fact - I've been busy snapping pictures of the sky at every opportunity. Yesterday, I finally got around to transferring the images from my camera to my computer, and I'll be updating this blog with some of the more interesting sky photos over the next few days.

So, to start the ball rolling, I've chosen this sunrise picture taken a few days ago at my local sports field. As I've mentioned before, morning - especially very early morning - isn't my favourite time of day, but sometimes it can't be avoided. On this occasion, I was up and about at around 5 AM on a May morning, and noticed that the pre-dawn sky was taking on a most interesting reddy tinge. Before long, I found myself standing in the middle of a deserted sports field, trying to get a clear view of the horizon as the sun rose above the distant hills - much the dismay of a group of wild rabbits, who, I gather, are accustomed to having the field to themselves at that time of day!

Despite this unintended bunny-bothering, I was able to grab a few sunrise pictures as the sun crept above the horizon. I was struck by the coppery shade of the sky around the rising sun, and the almost golden tint to the strands of Cirrus fibratus clouds hovering above the trees.

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Of course, these colours don't last long, but they are one of the things that makes sunrise photos worth the effort of early-morning activity!

PP.