Yes, all these fires raging in California did allow me to visit Yosemite and be almost the only person there. But they have played havoc with the sunsets on my trip to the Bay Area to visit my mom for her 95th birthday. I pretty much haven’t seen a sunset for two weeks, what with the clouds, fog and smoke in the sky.
The night before last, the sun finally peeked through below the smoke and clouds, and above the fog and distant mountains across the bay. I will do the rest of the photos in the order they were taken. The first one was one of the most amazing shots, you know, to lure people into the post. It started off as almost a normal sunset.
I used the telephoto lens to get a few pictures, not expecting much.
Then weird things started happen. That is not a reflection on the lens. That was really there. The smoke was refracting the sunlight, causing a ghost sun to appear.
But it got weirder.
The thick fire smoke was filtering the colors.
Thin layers of smoke of varying thicknesses filtered parts of the color spectrum out of the light.
That looks like some far-off planet to me.
Or maybe a sunset seen from a far-off planet.
It was incredible.
A ghost sun and color shift.
How weird is that?
Fake views!
Real views!
Wow! Those are absolutely spectacular photos, Art! You really did capture some unique shots! I was also thinking that it looked like a Jovian or Saturnian-type planet. It’s sad the fires have caused so much damage, but it’s a mixed blessing that they can create some spectacular views.
I am just trying to look on the bright side.
Just keep firing away, brother!
yup. and I just emailed you… ha
Those are incredible pictures!
It was mind blowing.