A Difference Of Night and Day

 

The following two images were both captured from about the same position--Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Above is a brilliantly vivid sunrise scene at 7:08 am CDT, Sunday, October 12, 2025. Image is a 1/60 second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 100, 24mm focal length. The old "red sky at morning, sailor take warning" saying held true here, as rain arrived later in the day. 

A trio of celestial objects, captured at 1:56 am CDT on Tuesday, October 14, 2025. Below in the image is a waning half-moon, above is the 1.15 magnitude star Pollux in the constellation Gemini, and at right is the -1.81 magnitude planet Jupiter. This is a composite image, with the moon being captured as a 1/250 second exposure at f/4, ISO 640, 55mm focal length; and Pollux & Jupiter a 1/13 exposure at f/4, ISO 640, 55mm focal length. Air temperature was 55 degrees F. Nikon Z6ii camera.

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Autumn Stroll with Sky Scrolls

 

Autumn skies during a 4.8 mile walk on the Grant Wood Trail east of Waldo's Rock Park near Marion, Iowa during the afternoon of Saturday, October 11, 2025 did not disappoint--with harvested golden-brown farm fields below and wispy Cirrus Uncinus (Mare's Tails) clouds above. These four iPhone 11 camera images look north and northwest along the trail. "Mare's Tail" cirrus are formed by ice crystals at high altitudes, and are stretched and curled by high winds. These formations are often a sign of approaching precipitation, and this was the case here as rain arrived a little over 24 hours later.

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Additional Mount St. Helens Pics

A view of Mount St. Helens in Washington with swirling cirrus clouds overhead looking north from Highway NF-90 at 11:04 am PDT on Sunday, August 24, 2025. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Colorful pre-dawn skies while ascending through the first two miles of Mount St. Helens from the Climber's Bivouac trailhead at 6:00 am PDT, Monday, August 25, 2025. A very shrouded Mount Adams can be seen just above the tree line at center. At background left, the treeless upper slope of Mount St. Helens is seen. iPhone 11 camera.

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