August 31st - colors, black holes and parallel universes

Today the sky ran the gamut - beautiful clear blue to high rolling thunderheads to black low hanging clouds, and everything in between. It was hard to pick just 3 images!

This rainbow appeared from cloud to cloud - no rain attached! it was beautiful, and quite unusual.


The sky seemed to go up forever as this towering thunderhead grew past the low hanging clouds into a sky that was bright blue.


there was a giant hole in the sky with another entire sky behind it - like parallel universes...

August 30th - My Heart's in the Sky!

Today was an amazing day in that the sky was so perfectly blue and the clouds were so white.

I was so happy to see this heart in the clouds! It was like a big sign - I heart clouds!

These cumulus clouds looked as though they were marching right up to my street.

August 29th - Sunsets and Silver

I have been trying to master all the manual settings on my camera, and these sunset photos are definitely an improvement in technical quality over what I've done in the past. I think I'm finally beginning to understand the elements of exposure and how they interact with each other...

Sunset #1

Sunset #2

And one more silver sky because I wanted to see if I could do it again!

August 28th - Swirls, Bumps and Sunshine

Today I want out early, as lately it has been grey in the afternoon. I was glad to find these wonderful bumpy clouds and bright blue sky - something different! The morning sunlight made the clouds look like shiny silver - it was a great way to start the day.

Medium altitude bumpy Alto cumulus clouds against a background of high cirrus clouds and blue sky.

Medium altitude Alto cumulus clouds in the bright sun create an interesting effect with the sun's rays. This scene also tricked my camera somehow - the sky was blue but this is how the photo came out un-retouched.

Low Stratus clouds hang like a valance in front of this swirl of Medium altitude Alto cumulus clouds against a bright blue sky.

August 27th - Fireworks and Mushroom and Mount Rushmore

Fireworks shooting out over the tree immediately came to mind when I saw this cloud.

Almost like a profile you would see on Mount Rushmore...

This formation seems to have a mushroom theme going on.

August 26th - Mushroom cloud, breaking waves, and grey sky

It has been raining pretty much all day, and the sky is basically grey - I did manage to eek out one photo just to stay honest. The other 2 pictures are from my archive. They were taken with a Sony Cybershot about 18 months ago. These were also taken from my yard, but it was at a different house about a mile from where we live now.


High Clouds:
One of the types of high clouds are the cirrostratus clouds like the grey background in this first photo. These clouds appear in sheets that have non-distinct features. They are usually thin enough for the sun or moon to shine through.

Middle Clouds:
The clouds in the foreground of the same photo are Altocumulus (I'm pretty sure). They are either scattered or in linear bands.


Multi-layer clouds:
Cumulonimbus clouds are the most dramatic type of cloud, and produce severe weather including thunder, lightning, hail and tornadoes. They expand at the top forming an anvil shape. This is caused by the stronger winds in the higher atmosphere.

This cumulonimbus cloud looks like waves crashing upon the rocky shore.

This cumulonimbus cloud, dramatically offset by the sudden appearance of the sun could almost be mistaken for a UFO or an atomic mushroom cloud.

August 25th - Expolsions, Geisers and Angel Wings

So given my nature to teach (having done so for so many years), I think I'll add a little piece of information about clouds at the beginning of each post. We are in summer storm weather pattern, so thunderheads are a daily thing. Good thing they're all so different!

Clouds are classified by basic characteristics like altitude, appearance, and how they form. The classifications by altitude are:

High - the bottom of the cloud is 18.000 feet or above
Middle - between 7ooo and 18,000 feet and
Low - below 7000 feet

The thunderstorm producing clouds are actually multi-level clouds called Cumulonimbus, and can have a base as low as 3000 feet, and top out at up to 60,000 feet!

The sky version of "Old Faithful"

This accessory cloud floated out of cumulus clouds in the shape of a feather or maybe an angel wing.

These clouds seemed to virtually explode!

August 24th Helicopter!

I wonder if the news people are in my backyard to document my blog? How did they know I would be out there? I'm sure it was another accident on the highway or an escaped prisoner, but it was a fun fantasy as I watched the helicopter hover in my staging area!

Two giant eyebrows on a face looking down at me...


Another face, and maybe a pig nose?
I think my paranoia is winning today - everything seems to be watching me!

August 23rd - Smoke Signals Flying Saucers and Cat Paws

Today I ventured across the street and down the road about 100 yards. I was trying to get a shot of sky I couldn't quite see over my back fence, and I never did find that particular view unobstructed. I was glad I went, however, as these shots were taken on my way back to the house.

The way these accessory clouds floated above the cumulus clouds on the horizon reminded me of smoke signals!

I'm thinkin' a giant flying saucer landing in the ocean...

This is the biggest cat paw I've ever seen!

August 22nd Altocumulus Undulatus?

The sky is generally clear and bright blue in the morning here, but today when I went outside there was a beautiful display of high clouds. I try to find resources and photos to correctly identify the clouds I am posting, but find that it's very hard to match pictures exactly. my best guess for these is Altocumulus Undulatus.

These clouds seemed to emanate from the center of a giant swirl.

It's almost as if these are fingers reaching out to touch the sky.

These dollops of cloud look like white caps on choppy water.

August 21st Unbelievable Lightning

Last night we had a huge cloud formation that stretched across the entire horizon, and a silent lightning display (cloud to cloud) that lasted for almost 3 hours. The lightning was almost continuous. We had a display similar to this one about 7 years ago, but I haven't seen anything like this in quite a while. Of course I was totally unprepared to take photos of this not having learned how to set the exposure on my camera for this situation. I am kicking myself!

Anyway, enough whining - here is what I did manage to get purely by luck. They're not great quality, but you'll get the idea. Anyone with resources about photographing lightning strikes at night, please share!

August 20th Lions, Skulls, Muppets and Magic

Yelling, skulls, magic, lions, yikes! I guess my own state of mind has a lot to do with interpreting these beautiful images today...I wonder what I was dreaming about last night!

Cirrus clouds form a wispy backdrop for these little puffs of cumulus clouds. The lens flare adds a magic wand effect to complete the picture.

Cirrus clouds form a wispy skull shaped background for these little puffs of cumulus clouds.

I clearly see a roaring lion in this cumulus cloud!

A streak of cirrus cloud seems to move through and around these rabbit ear shapes, while a muppet-type figure yells at them from below...

August 19th - Zeus and the gods

Zeus was waiting for me today, arms spread wide!

I swear it's so amazing to spend the day inside and then walk outside realizing this has been going on all day! The whole sky seemed to have that super-power energy to it. I wished I could fly up there and have a look around...

Today I learned to put the link to my flicker and to a mother-daughter blog of Nikki's trip to Paris on the right side of my blog. Check them out!

August 18th Early Thunderheads

The intense thunderheads came up earlier today than usual - they filled the entire horizon.


This cumulus cloud rolls back on itself to form a wave appearance. I wish the motion was visible in the picture!

August 17th Gothic vs Airplane

There was quite a contrast between the sky directly overhead with wispy cirrus clouds behind a stray airplane and the totally Gothic drama brewing on the horizon...

August 16th Tropical Storm Outer Bands

There is a tropical storm brewing in the gulf coast (Claudette) which has put us in the outermost bands of clouds. This always creates unusual skies.

August 15th - Cap Clouds!

I have already wondered each day how I will be able to take pictures that will be new and interesting. I mean how many kinds of skyscapes can there be? I guess the answer is an infinite number. I have been waiting for "cap clouds" to show up in my backyard, and it didn't take very long. And right next to them was this amazing cloud that looked like an upside down wave rolling into shore.