It was the evening of the 19th December when I wandered outside to top up the bird feeders that I noticed a strange cloud in the evening sky. It was like an ethereal jet trail with an oddly glowing tip that made the whole thing look comet-like, it was fading fast and by the time I'd grabbed a camera and run back out, it just looked like a fading jet trail and I didn't get any decent images of it but, I looked it up and it turned out to be a Nacreous cloud, I really wish I'd been ready to grab a few shots it looked wonderful and odd, c'est la vie.
I was now on the lookout for more of these clouds and on the 2oth while we were walking at Scurdie Ness I spotted more just starting to appear.
Faint Nacreous cloud forming
We were heading back to Ferryden so these were to our left or South Westerly, I guess as the sun was going down and the angle allowed the light reflection from the ice particles, whatever, they're beautiful. We were heading into Montrose for a wander and something to eat so I kept my eyes on the sky while we walked along the High St. and they were still visible. I always find it kind of sad that so many people have mo interest in the natural world around us but, we're all different right?
Phone photo of Nacreous cloud through Xmas decoration
I've found that phone cameras seem to struggle to pick up the nuances of light and colour in these clouds and I've always hated "over-egged" photos, too much false colour.
After a wander round town we headed back towards Alyth via Brechin and it was on that road that we could see very bright nacreous clouds low in the sky ahead of us and I eventually managed to find a lay-by to grab a few shots.
Scattered nacreous clouds near House of Dun
You can see in the shot above that some clouds are so bright that the camera only picks up the brightest, i.e. white. I've since been working on getting as much colour as possible without having to edit it in.
Very bright nacreous cloud near House of Dun
We watched these clouds all the way home and saw them fade as the sun went down, I hate missing out while driving :)
I'm already often wandering outside in the evenings, usually in natural breaks on TV to check the sky, is it clear? Will there be Aurora? Now, any nacreous clouds?
So on the morning of December 21st, I wandered through to the kitchen to make breakfast and there was a deep red glow out to the SW where the sun now rises.
07:10 - Phone photo of the red morning sky
I put breakfast together and took it through before heading back outside with a camera and tripod to better capture the sunrise. I was still in my jammies and goonie and it was FREEZING! Eventually ran back in for a hat and jogging bottoms :)
07:49 - Panorama of the sunrise
There was a strip of cloud right at the centre of the sunrise, little did I know ....
I zoomed in on the brightest area ...
07:59 - Nacreous clouds in the golden light of sunrise
There they were, lots of them and the colours were astounding in the golden sunrise light. I'm also guessing that it was this sunrise light that had my settings right on the camera to allow such great shots (IMO) :)
08:00 - 'Oiled' nacreous cloud in sunrise light
These shots are as close to 'out of camera' as possible, as I said previously, I hate those over-egged shots where everything is way too brilliant so I've tried to keep these as close to reality as I could. It was beautiful.
08:16 - Strips of nacreous cloud in the sunrise
So, I'm standing out by the gate overlooking the lane and fields beyond as a car drives by and I wave ........ in dressing gown, woolly hat and jogging bottoms, what a sight first thing in the morning :)
I just had a look at all the RAW images, I was out there from 07:45 to 09:15!
You can see the background colour change as the sun got higher but it still hadn't actually risen over the hilltop I am photographing.
08:17 - Glowing strip of nacreous cloud
I find it difficult to stop getting more shots when there is something like this going on, I guess better to have too many than miss something, that said, I'm terrible at deciding which are best and which to delete!
08:18 - Wide view showing faint colours above the clouds
Looking at the shot above and comparing it to the one below, you may see that I zoomed in on the lower right area to pick up the detail in those clouds.
08:20 - Stunning colours in the clouds
08:21 - Passing Corvids
I could see the birds waking up and starting to soar around, they seem to know, or sense the sunrise and react to it.
This is two shots stitched together to give the panorama view but look at the patterns and colours in those clouds
This is three shots stitched together to give the panorama view, imagine three photographs laid side by side. I've done this to give you a feel for how much of this was on display at the time.
While I'm taking all these shots, I'm also stopping to look around, check for anything else going on and I did see a Red Kite soaring around and coincidentally captured it passing by.
08:30 - Red Kite soaring
08:39 - Almost cloud cover free
08:42 - Subtleties in the clouds
I think I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this in my life before.
As the sun was rising the sky got lighter, obviously and the clouds started to fade a little but crepuscular rays also formed, rays coming up from the ground.
Soaring bird in nacreous cloud and crepuscular rays
The colours were truly amazing and changing all the time as the light changed.
I could see these aircraft flying high and wondered, do they see them as well?
Sun just below my horizon
The colours started to wash out a little as the sun got higher and more into my line of sight
Sunrise
The sun broke over my horizon around 09:14, that and I was freezing meant I called it a day ......... for now ;)
