Mountain shadows

[mike alexander]

Heading out for work this morning the clouds broke behind Mount Hood. I saw this and ran back to grab my camera, managing to catch the shadow of the volcano on the cloud deck.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1324/hoodlongshadow.jpg (http://img171.imageshack.us/i/hoodlongshadow.jpg/)

The sun was playing hide and seek, but a few minutes later I saw this

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9063/hoodshortshadow.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/hoodshortshadow.jpg/)

What I first thought was a thin dark cloud directly over the summit was the shadow lowering and pointing toward me as the sun rose. Just a few seconds later the hole the sun was shining through closed and it was all gone.

Nikon Coolpix 4600, 1/4", handheld. Yes I'm amazed there's as little smearing as there is.

[mahesh]

The magnificence of Mother Nature is so awesome and humbling.
You are lucky to see such beauty everyday. I envy you not.
Thanks for sharing your lovely captures, Mike.

[Middenrat]

Just the description of these images is exciting - and the images themselves are not disappointing. A pity the picture host will only give me c.400 x 300.

[NickW]

That is the first time I have seen the shadow of a mountain on a cloud. Good catch, Mike!

[Tucson_Tim]

Mike, that top picture is stunning. Brilliant. Amazing.

[mike alexander]

Thanks. The most difficult part of the picture was just realizing what I was seeing.

This time of year, as the sun is moving south, I usually wander out to see the sunrise. At first, it was just pretty colors. I have no idea how long I was looking at it until my mind put the pieces together. Then it was grab a camera and throw some settings into it as fast as I could, hoping I could stand still enough to get something without blurring. Most of the frames were hopelessly blurred, but that one is OK.

[Veeger]

I spent a week in McMinnville and never saw Mt. Hood the entire time. Even when I drove around it to visit the Columbia River Gorge (a breathtaking trip), it was in clouds.

That first shot is very, very cool.

[Foote]

I absolutely love shadows in the sky! This is a very beautiful pic, thanks for sharing, glad you could capture the moment!

[Yanz]

That's brilliant.. Beautiful.