[Photos] Keep looking up.

[moonvoice]

We got new blinds the other day, I'll put photos of them up probably next year, lmao.

Although that's not too far away now!

2020 approacheth. We'll be in the 20s, and FINALLY I can start saying a proper decade because saying the 'oughts' and the 'tens' sounded so absurd. But ah, the twenties? And we are not exactly advancing as a species, are we?


We took this one night at a friend's, and I said from the table 'it's going to be a good sunset.' And it was. So we all went outside to enjoy it. I love that I'm getting pretty good at 'reading' whether we'll get a dull sunset or a technicolor one. (It's heat, humidity, and cloud formation).




This was from the same evening as above. The glow is a burst of rain catching the sun's rays.







This was one of the strangest cloud formations I'd ever seen. And then I realised it looked like an exclamation mark, which was exactly how I felt seeing it.



This was the same sky that also gave me The Seahorse.



Same as it ever was.



Tiny precise details! You know what that means right? You guessed it, cirrocumulus!





Sun behind the clouds.



I mean come on



I like taking photos of storm and rain clouds, and seeing the shapes that might almost be indistinguishable from the rest of the grey. But not quite.



I loved the 3 (4) holes poked into that central gray wave.



Even rain clouds have something to say.





A half-moon, some stunningly crisp cumulus formations.



I could not believe the strength of that honey yellow burst.



That very same sky, but without the moon. Like gauzy silk underwater.

Comments

[calissa]

What stunning photos! Just so gorgeous.

Knowing when there's going to be a good sunset sounds like an excellent skill to have. I'm getting there, but still have a long way to go. Got any tips?

I saw a great example of Undulatus Asperatus... so naturally I didn't have a camera to hand. XD

[moonvoice]

Got any tips?

I don't know how they universally apply, or if they do, honestly? Because I think they have to be geographically influenced. Generally speaking though, high humidity and the presence of cirro or altocumulus before sunset, and a hot day = good sunset.

High humidity and the presence of stratus = mediocre sunset (though there can be still be some good shots in there, they're just less likely to be colourful ones).

Low humidity and the presence of cumulus = godshots (crepuscal rays). These can make good sunsets, but they're rarely colourful.

Low humidity and the presence of any clouds before sunset = can create interesting patterns, but not likely to be colourful. Here in Ellenbrook, clouds often form briefly around 5pm and then are blown away in the peak of winds that come just before the sun sets, so sometimes 'low humidity and some clouds' means 'absolutely nothing and a standard sunset' lol.

[calissa]

This is useful, thank you! When you lay it out like this, I can see that it's our low humidity that's the problem. That said, we do get the occasional stunning sunset.

[moonvoice]

Re: 'high humidity' - anything over about 40% here counts. But the higher it is, the better. The most *beautiful* sunsets we've had, have always been a humidity around 60 percent or higher, on days that are over 35C. It's not a universal truth, but there are sunsets that hot weather gives that cold weather can never give.