Inspired by the Heavens!

Posted on June 7, 2021 by

32 Comments

Thanks to Terri Webster Schrandt for inspiring me once again with her photo challenge. This week the theme is Celestial and it sent me to my archives to find some of my favorite pictures of the heavens!

I’ll start at the beginning with sunrise. Last December I woke to a brilliant sky and knew it was going to be a good day!

I captured the scene below on another winter’s day, when the Sun loomed heavy through the clouds. I was on my way home from the store at the time and pulled over to catch it with my phone.

Speaking of the Sun I took this picture at the end of a hot summer day when the sky was choked with smoke from wildfires far away.

Even though it’s beautiful, I’m sorry to say we’re learning to live with an orange Sun and smoky skies for several days each year.

Now let’s move on to that other orb in the sky which also glows, but not from itself – it only reflects light from the other. I get my best pictures of the moon during the winter when it rises over my backyard, peering through the trees on its way, sometimes lassoed by them,

before finally breaking through.

And there’s nothing like a lunar eclipse when the earth’s shadow blocks sunlight from reaching the moon. Unfortunately I missed the total eclipse last month. It happened in the early morning hours and though I got up a few times I couldn’t see it due to cloud cover. But I did catch one in January of 2019 from my backyard, yes during the winter at a decent hour.

I could go on and on but I better save something for later.

And it you want to be inspired and maybe participate yourself be sure and check out Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge.

~ Susanne

Category: Nature, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , ,

32 Comments on “Inspired by the Heavens!”

  1. Those are striking photos, Susanne! I especially like the ones of the moon through the trees!

  2. Amazing skies, Susanne. We have had nothing like those here. Well done for capturing them!
    Best wishes, Pete.

    • Thanks so much Pete. I really appreciate your comment. 🙂 I have always been intrigued by the night sky and continue my quest for photos!

  4. Nice selection Susanne. I missed the last lunar eclipse too, though I don’t think it was cloudy here. I just had to get up very early the next morning.

  5. Wow, these are some lovely images! I tried photographing the moon last week but totally failed.

    • Thanks so much for your comment! I have plenty of fails too but just keep at it. If you take enough photos you eventually get a few good ones! 🙂

      • Oh, I’m not sure! It was like the camera refused to focus. I normally use autofocus + manual but it was like it didn’t work, not even full manual! I may need to ask for advice on the mirrorless forum… I’m sure there are more Olympus users who want to photograph the moon.

      • There are many helpful sites out there, including the camera specific forums. I am continually learning from them as well. 🙂

  6. I think I have had better luck with winter night sky photography, too, Susanne! Yours are terrific and how cool to start with the sun, then the moon! Having moved from smokey summer skies in NorCal, capturing the sun makes for amazing images, but sadly, the devastation from the wildfire now on the entire west coast is heartbreaking. Gorgeous shots, simply stunning!

    • Thanks so much for your comment and your photo challenge too! 🙂 I’m not an early riser so I love catching sunrise in the winter when it arrives at a normal hour! I can also see the moonrise in my backyard, early in the evening, giving lots of opportunities to play with moonshots! 🙂

  9. Great eclipse photos and I love the ones of the moon with branches across it 🙂 And that sunrise – wow!

    • Thanks so much! I loved seeing that sunrise! They seem to be more intense during the winter. And I dont have to get up so early to see them!

      • Very true – although give me the short nights and longer days of summer any time!

  10. Pingback: Sunday Stills Color Challenge: A Portland Summer in #Pink – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives

  11. Beautiful gallery of the sky and very celestial. It is sad that you experience so much smoke due to wildfires every year, but you certainly shared a brilliant image of the sun. I love your moon shots with your weathervane in the foreground. 🙂

    • Thanks so much for your comment. 😊 The smoke is unfortunate but does make for some interesting skies for a few days!

      • Smoke has become a regular visitor to the Seattle area the last couple of years, from all over the NW, California, Canada, and even Siberia! but hopefully this year will be better! One can hope. 🙂

      • I’m sending positive vibes that the wildfires will be less this year. We had planned our vacation in Seattle for last September of course cancelled due to covid. We were going to hike parts of Mt. Rainier and other areas. Now I’m having foot surgery tomorrow and I haven’t hiked but twice in 6 months. We are going to try again maybe next year. My hubby lived out west for 20 years and a lot of that time in Seattle. He has hiked it all. 🙂

      • I certainly understand that. I was born and raised in Texas and it took me 10 years to get over not going back but I’ve been in Florida for 35 years now and it is home too. 🙂

  12. Wow. Those are gorgeous. Making my way around posts I missed from last week. LOVE these so much.

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