2401_0891 Sun Halo - a photo on Flickriver

2401_0891 Sun Halo

            Extreme Winter continues with a recent shot from a very cold day. The Polar Vortex was upon us. It's gone now, weather is mild, but we had a week of icy skies and numbing wind. 

This is a 22° sun halo with parhelia ("sundogs"), a faint sun pillar (above) and stronger sunstreak (below). They intersect with the horizontal section of the parhelic circle to form a "white cross" - the first one I've ever photographed. The tiny white dots visible near the top are ice crystals falling to earth.

All these phenomena are produced by refraction and reflection from hexagonal ice crystals in the atmosphere. They are seen only on very cold days. I didn't use any filters or special enhancement, other than to adjust vibrance and contrast to taste in Photoshop. 

I didn't even get out of my car for this shot - it was bitterly cold out there! Instead, I pulled off Hwy 4 onto a grid road, parked diagonally to shoot out of the driver side window, and almost immediately had to move when a pickup truck appeared in my rearview mirror. The driver saw what I was up to and gave me a wave as she passed. I repositioned the car, got the shot.

I didn't need ISO 640 or a shutter speed of 1/4000 for this shot, but the cold does strange things to one's ability to think, and I was worried that the show in the sky might fade away at any moment. It remained, however, for the duration of my drive home (120 km; about 1 hr 20 minutes if I don't stop). Fortunately today's camera sensors perform superbly at ISO settings that used to produce a lot of noise.

Photographed south of Swift Current, Saskatchewan (Canada).  Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Taken in: Canada / Saskatchewan / Springfeld (show map)

Taken on: January 18, 2024

Tags:

landscape

sky

cold

polar vortex

sun

sundogs

parhelia

22° sun halo

sun pillar

sunstreak

white cross

phenomena

cold weather

Wow!

prairie

Swift Current

Saskatchewan

Canada

copyrighted

James R. Page

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Sets appears in: • Best 2024 • Prairie Skies more » • Weather Phenomena « less

Groups appears in: • Canadian Beauty • Awesome Nature more » • Beautiful Earth • Your Best Photography • North American Nature & Wildlife Photography • NATURE'S BEST • Art of Nature • FOTOCYFER - The Light's Hunters • Living Life Through A Lens • Wonderful World! • Earth Images Nature Photography • high quality nature • WorldLandscapes • Breathtaking Landscapes B&W and Color • Tra un Manifesto e Lo Specchio - High quality images • Nature Fine Pictures Gallery • The Prairie Enthusiasts • What is the Story? « less

Camera: Nikon D810, f/11.0, 1/4000 sec, 24mm, ISO 640 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D810
Lens:	24.0-85.0 mm f/3.5-4.5
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	1/4000 sec
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	640
Exposure Bias:	-2/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.5 (Macintosh)
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