Well the weatherman blew the forecast again....we were under a blizzard warning last night and they were predicting anywhere from 3-17" of snow! Ha...I want their job! Got up this morning to sun, not all that much snow and only a little wind BUT there was a really nice sundog out the front window. I used my reverse neutral density filter for the first time to capture this. After a quick google search I came up with this brief explanation of what causes Sundogs:
"Sundogs are visible when the sun is near the horizon and on the same horizontal plane as the observer and the ice crystals. As sunlight passes through the ice crystals, it is bent by 22 degrees before reaching our eyes, much like what happens with 22 degree halos. This bending of light results in the formation of a sundog."
Sundogs are fairly common occurrences in the Arctic and Antarctic. They form when the sun is near the horizon and ice crystals high in the sky line up in a way that bends the solar rays like a prism.
Paula, this is fabulous! I love it, and have never heard of a sundog before, but now I want one! Captured brilliantly. I need to learn about these different filters, also. Great shot!
As soon as I saw this picture I knew you were in Iowa...my brother lives there and share a similar picture on Facebook. Altho' your's is a much better photograph....please don't tell my brother I said that :)
These are really cool. I should have been out looking too. Actually we were told the blizzard wouldn't reach us, but then it did, the high winds were wild.
@omabluebird Thanks Susan, my husband is the one who actually saw them first and told me to take a look. I just had to run outside to see if I could get it. First I had the 70-300 on....couldn't get the whole thing in the frame so had to run back in and get the wide ange to get it all to fit. It was a pretty sight and lasted quite a long time too!
@bradsworld Thanks Brad, we seem to get them a lot during the winter months but this is the first time I actually bothered to go out in the cold and try to capture one!
@barbsmith@lilyfrog@sparkle@bribuccigrossi Thank you, sometimes all you have to do is look out the window to be amazed by nature! It was just waiting for me right outside my window!
@wamstreet Thank you Becky....I have to wonder how far away the sundogs are visible! I don't know if it's a local thing or people allover the midwest see the same thing I'm looking at Obviously I'm no scientist as you can tell! :) I'm sure your brother's picture was awesome but I'm not telling on you! :)
@corymbia@jonna@girlie@jjsooner THANK YOU for your nice comments....I just managed to get a picture of this awesome sight. It looked like a rainbow only not like a regular rainbow because the only color was a bit of red on the ends if that makes any sense! I love it when pictures just appear in front of me without any effort at all!
@omabluebird Susan, we heard different stories depending on the source but I was getting emails from KWWL that we were in the Blizzard Warning and wildly varying amounts of snow were predicted....as usual a bit overstated! :)
This is incredible Paula!! I have never had the privilege of seeing a sundog, so thank you for sharing. I wish the weatherman would have goofed up our forecast. :(
Incredible!!! I saw one for the first time just last Friday!!! My parents and I were driving down to Indianapolis... I argued that they looked more like sunSPOTS not "dogs" Lol
I think we got all of the snow so none was left for you! This is a lovely shot. You already have 13 favs! That says it all. They way you processed it and your composition is just beautiful. How does the filter work? I do not have that one.....yet.
I was thinking at first that you have made some tricks by your software, but explanation is different:) The photo is incredibly amazing!
Is my simple photo something like that phenomenon or are they quite different ? http://365project.org/lehy/365/2010-12-11
@lehy Thank you Leena, I'm no expert on this stuff (my husband is the science guy) but they look like similar phenomena to me...the one I shot also had a slight reddish cast on the bottom sides. I love the color of the sky in your image!!
@wac Thank you Wendy, I was kind of disappointed we didn't get more snow but I'm sure we'll make up for it soon! This was the first time I used the filters so I'm probably not the one to ask for a technical review but I got them because whenever I shoot sunrise/sunset shots the sky is blown out and the landscape is way too dark so these are supposed to help balance that out by toning down the sky and lighting up the land.
Thank you for all your comments, I've read them all and I appreciate every single one of them. I am behind on pretty much everything this week but I'm going to take some time to catch up on all your photos and get back to commenting real soon! :)
I looked up the filters after I looked at your photo. I know exactly what you mean about how hard it is to get the right contrast. I think I can get some to try from a friend and will ask her. My niece says the best way to get the right exposure is a tripod and slow shutter and low f/stop like f/14 or smaller. I have tried and it works. I am glad I have a photographer in the family!
@wac Thanks so much for the tips Wendy....I need all the help I can get. I will definitely try that suggestion. I've had my tripod for a couple years and barely used it until just recently I wish I had someone who could explain this stuff to me....books are helpful but it would be great to have someone in person explain it!
Is my simple photo something like that phenomenon or are they quite different ? http://365project.org/lehy/365/2010-12-11