biiiiiiiiiiiiiiig doggie!!

[photobug]

Sundog that is...

So, there I was just shooting this cool cloud edge...

when out of the clear blue sky this appeared

This puppy was huge! The tree is about 40 feet tall. The clouds were at about 3000 feet. You do the math.

Even with the wind up there moving things around this still lasted 15 minutes.

And toward the end of things this helpful gull wandered by, so I shot him too!

It was stunning to watch this thing evolve over time, and I couldn't believe how big it was and how long it lasted. Woot!

 

[vonnagy]

hey those are incredible! I haven't seen a sundawg in while. You've captured them brillantly here, i've never seen one so vivid. almost looks time exposed here as well. Aren't sundogs omens for bad weather?

 

[photobug]

Thanks Mark, it was an amazing sight.

No idea about the weather prognosicational abilities of a sundog though. [shrug]

 

[LittleMan]

Those are awesome pics! I've never heard of those.... much less actually seen one... haha
Pretty awesome!

 

[photobug]

Thanks LM.

 

[cageunphotography]

Wau!!! How u predict the rainbow coming out or acually is just lence effect?

 

[mentos_007]

I've never heard nor seen something like that!!! amazing!!!

 

[photobug]

cajeun- no predicting them, you just hope you have your camera when they pop up. There was a smaller one about 15 minutes earlier, so this one didn't surprise me, except for the intensity and duration of the effect. They are caused by the sun reflecting/refracting off ice crystals in the clouds. I think what made this one so intense was the thinness of the cloud.

mentos- I had never seen one before last Fall, now they seem to be popping up fairly regularly. Apparently it's more common in the winter.