Layers of sunset

  

Layers of sunset, from Cotati, 23 August 2026

Red sky at night...

 

 

...sailor's delight.  

 

A saying that certainly held true last night and today! 

 

Sunset from Cotati on 11 July 2026. 

 

The colors of the sky...

  

...in a shell!  

Two close-ups of the inside of an abalone shell.  

I thought the first one (above) looked like an aurora, while the second (below) was more like a sunset.

[You can click on them for larger versions.] 

 

 

 

 Photographed in Monterey County on 6 June 2026.   

Color in the clouds

  

The rainbows continued today (22 April 2026).  Here's one that appeared high in the clouds over Sonoma Mountain at the end of the day.

Earth Day

  

Passing showers during the early morning of 21 April 2026 brought views of several rainbows.  Here's a quick shot to help celebrate Earth Day.

Remember to go outside today and send out thanks to the Earth.  As David Byrne says, "She's the only one we have."

Sunset rainbow

  

After off and on rain showers for most of the day (12 April 2026), Eric spotted a brilliant rainbow to the southeast of Cotati at sunset. 

Pearlescent lining?

  

I walked out the door at lunchtime and noticed unusual high clouds right away.  It felt like there was potential for something interesting to appear in the sky, so I brought my camera with me to eat lunch.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, the light started to look interesting off to the side of the sun...some iridescent clouds started to appear! 

Almost five years ago I photographed iridescent clouds for the first time (see post called "Iridescence in the air?" on 7 June 2021), but I wasn't sure when the conditions would be right to see them again.

Here are two more photos.  Note that the colors are more pearlescent and pastel shades, rather than following the colors of the rainbow. 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  Here's a brief description of iridescent clouds from the Cloud Appreciation Society (along with a gallery of other examples).

Green on the horizon

  

Wasn't sure if we'd see one tonight, but there it was, glowing green on the horizon.  Photographed from Bodega Head on 28 January 2026.  [You can click on the image for a slightly better version of the photo.]

Every one is different

  

Sunset from Bodega Head, 21 January 2026
 

Spindrift and light

  

10-foot swell + 15-second wave period + an offshore breeze = a setup for spindrift! 

A few wave photos from this morning (12 January 2026).

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas bow

  

Such dynamic weather today (25 December 2025).  Frequently the conditions were different on either side of our house.  Sun on the east side and rain on the west side led to a bright rainbow this morning.

Of Light and Air

  

We're back from a trip to visit family in Massachusetts, and we felt very lucky to be there during a beautiful Winslow Homer exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Above, The Blue Boat by Winslow Homer in 1892.

The Of Light and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor exhibit runs through 19 January 2026, so if you're in the Boston area and have an interest in Homer's watercolors (as well as a few bonus oil paintings, e.g., The Fog Warning), I recommend trying to get to the MFA!  There are also lots of photos and videos with additional details on the MFA's website (see link above).

Sunset watcher

 

 

The sunset was quite something tonight (2 December 2025), and we weren't the only ones watching!

 

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) perched on top of a CODAR antenna that monitors ocean currents.

 

And here's a close-up of the owl in silhouette against that purple sky: 

 

 

 

Painting the clouds

  

Beautiful cloud patterns at sunset on 10 November 2025.

[You can click on the image for a larger version.] 

A little rain, a lot of color

  

An amazing rainbow between Bloomfield and Valley Ford this morning (14 October 2025).

This was a full rainbow, but I could only get photos of either end.  

Above is the east end, below is the view to the west:

 

 

So bright! 

A little rain, a little color

  

A rainbow appeared briefly to the east when we got home from work tonight (13 October 2025).  

Looks like we received ~0.5 inch of rain in Bodega Bay today.  

Layers

   

Close-up of a Red Abalone (Haliotus rufescens) shell, 9 September 2025

ADDENDUM (12 September 2025): There were a couple of requests to show more of the abalone shell.  In this case, the original photo was just a section of the rim of a shell, but here's the photo without any cropping:

 

  

P.S.  Note that I've found that the lighting matters a lot when photographing abalone iridescence.  Overcast days bring out the colors the most. 

Clearing showers

  

Clearing showers at the end of the day today (17 March 2025) produced a beautiful rainbow to the east.  And who was at the end of that rainbow?

The Anna's Hummingbird on her nest -- a little green (and a pot of gold?) for St. Patrick's Day!  ;)

Inspiration, move me brightly

  

Eric noticed this amazing sculpin recently -- the colors behind the eyes are a perfect match for orange sponge and pink coralline algae found in low rocky intertidal zone areas.

This might be a Smoothhead Sculpin (Artedius lateralis), but we'd love input about the identification.

Blowing offshore

  

Not sure about you, but I was a little surprised by the strength of the wind this morning.  I think the prediction was for ~6 mph, but it was more like 18 mph with gusts to 28 mph.  And it was from the east or east-northeast (blowing offshore), so it created some interesting foam line patterns perpendicular to the shore.

Conditions were also good for clean waves and spindrift: