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Weekly Photo Challenge: Warmth

This week’s photo challenge is all about warmth.

The sun, peeking out from under a cloud deck, gave the illusion of warmth on a morning with wind chills in the 20s. The shake on this hand-held seven-second exposure (shivering?) gave this an almost flame-like effect.

New Year's Eve sunrise.
New Year’s Eve sunrise.
Sunrise
What the sunrise looked like without the zoom and the camera shake.

Other eye warming entries:

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Almost bookends

We’ve seen a bit of unsettled weather in Arkansas over the last two days. Not ideal for meteor or Super Moon watching, but the sunrises and sunsets have been spectacular. These two are bookends for the last 48 hours.

Black silhouetted trees against cobalt and orange sky.
Sunrise on Friday, Aug. 8, 2014.
Black silhouetted trees against cobalt and orange sky.
Sunset on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014.
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Eastern and west

Another attempt at shooting the night sky. Through the viewfinder it appeared as if the tree was strung with tiny white lights, but it turned out many of the leaves on this struggling oak had their own glint.  Tonight, we’ll stay up to see Mars, the Orionids and maybe, just maybe, catch a glimpse of Comet Ison.  (The Waiting for Ison blog has lovely  illustrations showing what you can expect to see and when, in the night sky.)

Night Sky looking east
Eastern sky last night.
Moonset and sunrise
Western sky this morning with gibbous moon and 360 degree pink ring around the horizon.  
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Soft morning

Mist left by the previous evening’s rain made for a beautifully soft sunrise. One of the nice things about carpooling with my husband is that he drives and I can shoot.

Mist-softened sunrise, silhouetted trees.
Sun peers out from between the silhouettes of tree canopies and fence line.

 

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Weekly photo challenge: Silhouette

What a way to start the day! Sunrise over the local pond on Oct. 18, 2012. The intense colors throw the autumn woods into silhouette.

MORNING — Sun and clouds combine for a breathtaking view on the way to work.

And the homepage for this week’s weekly photo challenge:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/weekly-photo-challenge-silhouette/

Other silhouettes to see:

And since you’ve read this far down, here’s what we saw as the sun went to bed the evening before the above sunrise:

GOOD NIGHT — Sun sinks into a deck of clouds the evening of Oct. 17, 2012, before disappearing over Oklahoma and points west.
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Autumn color 2011

Fall color reaches its dramatic peak in the Ouachita Mountains.

OUACHITA MOUNTAIN AUTUMN -- The fall colors are reaching their peak this week.
RED -- The two Chinese pistache trees in the parking lot put on a great foliage show in the fall, despite being whipped about by the wind.
SUNRISE -- Late fall sunrise finally reaches the canopy in the office parking lot.
EVENING SUN -- Red sunset peeps out from between slowly receding low cloud deck and the western Ouachitas.
TREE CANDY -- Sweet, wild persimmons dangle temptingly about 30 feet above ground in an increasingly bare tree on a windy, overcast day.
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New interchange

Workers get ready to pour concrete atop a pillar that will carry traffic between Interstate 430 and Interstate 630 in west Little Rock, a project being called the Big Rock Interchange*. They probably had the city’s best view of the morning commuters. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department posted this YouTube animation to show what might be when the earth movers and orange barrels are gone.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION -- Construction workers atop a pillar being poured as part of the I-430, I-630 interchange improvements.

*Not sure if “Big Rock,” is a play on Boston’s tunnel project, the “Big Dig,” or a nod to “Big Rock Township,” a governmental subdivision created in 1823. The townships are largely antiquated and have very little in terms of political function. We think the only office Big Rock has is the elected constabulary.