A Real Cloud-Pleaser

Hi, I'm Ben. Good, bad, or meh, all posts are original content. I live in Minnesota. I'm happily engaged. I have a dog named Dave. 1k+ 10k+ 100k+ My Animated Gifs My ...Self Archive

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Although an altocumulus cloud tends to lack the power and drama of its big sister, the cumulonimbus ... or the puffy presence and growth potential of its younger brother, the cumulus ... it does have one trick up its sleeve.

On the rare occasion an altocumulus will display colorful irisations.  For that short moment it’s definitely the coolest cloud in the sky.

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This evening’s sunset, over a span of 17 minutes.

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A sunset over the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado.  The rain caused the sunset to appear unusually pink.

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Last night we had the first thunderstorm of the year! …and I managed to capture this bolt o’ lightnin’.

Semi-interesting fact— Newspapers in the 1800′s often used terms other than “lightning” when describing it.  Their alternate terms included:  “electrical bombardment”, “electrical pyrotechnic” or a “peculiar pyrotechnic display”.

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I like it when clouds get messy.

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This morning, an extremely hot ball of plasma appeared on the horizon. Fortunately, I had my camera handy to capture the event!

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Well… We’re getting married!!! Ben proposed at the Como conservatory sunken garden!

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This is the first time I've ever reblogged someone else's post, but I think the circumstances merit it. :)

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A photo of tonight’s moon, taken just a few minutes ago.

Also, I’m wondering if anyone knows why most every moon in our solar system has a name... except for ours?!?

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Julie and I have... grown quite fond of each other.

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So yeah… at the moment it’s cold and snowing outside, so I thought I’d post a picture of a much warmer memory.

I took this photo while bicycling through a Mahogany plantation on Kauai.

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It’s a… clouwnd!

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Although I took this photo a few months ago, I didn’t notice the monster until recently.  He/she/it is in the process of eating 3 thin clouds, sorta in the middle/left of the picture.

Hmmm… I think I’ll make a quick illustration because it may be hard to see. Give me a few minutes—I’ll post it shortly!

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I’m quite excited—I’ve got a new lens. Finally I’ll be able to take family portraits!

...from a half mile away.

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Yesterday’s sunrise was quite purplely.

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So I'm scrolling through your blog and ooh-ing at all of it. I'm a learning photographer and the sky is basically my drug, it's so cool to know I'm not the only person fascinated with clouds and someday my pictures could look like yours!

I’m glad you enjoy my photos!  Yep, there’s a few of us “fascinated with clouds” people floating around.  You know… you might be interested in checking out the Cloud Appreciation Society.  Julie and I have recently become members, and it’s kinda fun.

For joining, you get a member certificate and a little button mailed to you.  For a few extra quid, you can even get an enamel badge!  Although, the best part for me is that I now regularly address Julie as “my fellow Cloud Appreciation Society member”.

Regardless of membership, it’s worth checking out the site.  Also, the founder, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, wrote a book called The Cloudspotter’s Guide.  I’m in the middle of reading it and it’s an excellent resource for any cloud enthusiast.

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A perfect evening at Lake Calhoun, captured last summer. Soon, my Minnesotan friends.  Soon.

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I never thought my life could be quantified so accurately (and so miniscule-ly), but clearly I was wrong...

Recently Julie surprised me with one of the most unexpected and imaginative gifts I've ever received— a custom, extremely personalized LEGO set. 

The first minifig I call "Gamin' Geek'n Ben", and he comes with: • An Xbox One controller and console (almost certainly with a copy of COD or Halo loaded in it) • A soda can containing a Mountain Dew-esque beverage • A green Star Wars light saber • A space/astronaut-themed t-shirt

The second minifig I call "Sport'n Explorn' Ben", and he comes with: • A black Jeep Rubicon (with a 3mm lift kit and oversized wheels) • A stand-up paddleboard w/ paddle • A Sony A7r digital camera (with what appears to be a 300mm lens) • A soccer/fütball jersey with my name custom-printed on the back

It took Julie quite some effort to make this—the Jeep is completely custom built and several of the pieces she could only locate in Europe— and this post is my attempt at letting her know how much this means to me.  

My hope is that a fellow LEGO enthusiast sees this and appreciates the full cleverness of this gift, because, well... I think it's amazing.