Sun pillar

[invisible]

These photos are not particularly well composed – the first one has a bit of a cluttered foreground and the second one probably called for a longer lens. I wanted to share them regardless. Thursday evening I got the chance to shoot a rare sunset. There was a beam of sun light going upwards towards the clouds, something I had never seen before. The sun painted the clouds a bright orange/red that was the stuff of highly-photoshopped photos – only this was the real thing, I was seeing it with my own eyes.

The lower the sun got on the horizon, the redder the clouds got – notice the difference between the two photos.

I'm told this phenomenon is called a "sun pillar", caused by the light of the sun hitting ice crystals in the atmosphere. In addition, and not seen in the photo, there was a sundog!

This was Thursday in Victoria Beach (Manitoba), by the way. I wish I'd been able to get a more pleasing photo of this beam show, but the shore was ice covered (already!) and the surface too slippery for comfort. I set up in the first non-slippery spot that I could find and barely moved for the duration of the sunset, so I didn't explore the area for better vantage points.

Enjoy!

 

[shefjr]

I could sit and look at sunsets like that all day. Beautiful!:thumbup:

 

[480sparky]

You should submit the first one here.

 

[invisible]

I could sit and look at sunsets like that all day. Beautiful!:thumbup:

Thank you!

You should submit the first one here.

Just did, thanks for the tip!

 

[PixelRabbit]

Very cool captures! I like the second best
I got to shoot one of these early last winter, it was crazy red at the end too.

 

[imagesliveon]

Very nice!!

 

[MLeeK]

Very neat!

 

[leeroix]

wow man... nicely done.:thumbup:

 

[mikefisher1304]

Very nice ! I know that area is beautiful in the evening and the morning. I love going there in winter hitting the big lake to fish hard for the day and See that breath taking view. Love them !

 

[Frequency]

I like #1 ...but with the name "Nature's Golden Cross"(i don't call it a pillar )

 

[invisible]

Very nice ! I know that area is beautiful in the evening and the morning. I love going there in winter hitting the big lake to fish hard for the day and See that breath taking view. Love them !

I lived in Manitoba for nine years and have travelled the province extensively for at least half of that time... but I hadn't been to Victoria Beach up until a couple months ago. Of all the popular summer spots, this has got to be the most beautiful.

Thank you all for your comments!

 

[JNE_Photos]

Cool photos. The second one is my favorite.

 

[thetrue]

Damnit invisible, what did I tell you???

 

[TATTRAT]

Jesus, how I HATE the cold, but good God, that's awesome! What a cool place to be to capture such a capture. I feel like if these were just a bit more sharp, a more "pano" like crop, it would be like a couple Peter Lik shots I have seen (How I wish a Hasselbad camera were all within our financial grasp).

Thanks for sharing!

 

[invisible]

You should submit the first one here.

I just got a note from EPOD saying that they'll be posting the photo on the site in the next few weeks. Thanks again for the tip!

The second one is my favorite.

Mine too.

Damnit invisible, what did I tell you???

I'm a liar, OK?

Jesus, how I HATE the cold, but good God, that's awesome! What a cool place to be to capture such a capture. I feel like if these were just a bit more sharp, a more "pano" like crop, it would be like a couple Peter Lik shots I have seen (How I wish a Hasselbad camera were all within our financial grasp).

I agree that the first one could use a bit more sharpness. I'm not sure why I decided to go with f/22... The small aperture probably affected the overall image quality, including sharpness. The ice crystals diffusing the light and making the clouds look blurry likely contributed to the lack of perceived sharpness as well.

Thanks, guys!