Author: Waldmeister

PURPLE LIGHT

 

Approximately 15 minutes after sunset there is sometimes a phenomenon called “Purpur Licht” in German (Purple Light). This is not the same as the “afterglow” where clouds are illuminated by the sun in a red light. Purple light is a physical phenomenon and created by dust particles high up in the atmosphere, for example, Sahara dust.

It needs two different kinds of reflections in the atmosphere to let us see the purple light. The observer sees a red light and a blue light. These two sources are getting mixed by our eyes and in our brain and we see a purple light.

October-November evenings are often a good time for purple light when the sky is clear. There are various conditions responsible for purple light. For example, pressure, wind, or what kind of dust particles are in the air are factors.

Sometimes it’s not exactly clear what the reason for this phenomenon is when the purple light is very intense but the eruption of a volcano or a bushfire could increase the number of particles in the atmosphere. The legendary paintings of romantic painter W. Turner with the memorable red sky are perhaps influenced by real intense purple light and afterglow due to volcanic activity.

 

 

Photography of purple light is easy. Mostly you need a place where you have no obstacle like high buildings or trees in the west. Always good to have the camera on a tripod since the eye is a bit tricked: the sky looks brighter as it is. I was going for a jog when I saw too late that this could be a very interesting sunset, thus my equipment wasn’t appropriate for the situation. Sometimes you could rest your camera on a stone or on the edge of a wall but here I was in the middle of some fields. I didn’t want to have a high ISO thus the result has its limits but demonstrates what purple light is. If you use photoshop or another post-pro software careful use of saturation could underline the purple light effect.




 

For a better effect, it is also worth to check an astronomical calendar and look out for an evening with a clear sky when Venus or Jupiter is visible in the west or even better a planet and the crescent moon having a rendezvous in the sky.

Sometimes also clouds in the stratosphere could create an intense “red sky phenomenon”. This time however it wasn’t stratospheric clouds or volcanic ash it was simply a few warm days with a clear sky during the Indian summer in October.

by Waldmeister Categories: Photography Tips And Tricks, Uncategorized

PURPURLICHT

Ungefähr 15 Minuten nach Sonnenuntergang gibt es manchmal ein Himmelsphänomen namens Purpurlicht. Dies ist nicht dasselbe wie Abendrot, wo die Wolken durch die untergehende Sonne illuminiert werden. Purpur-Licht ist ein physikalisches Phänomen und entsteht durch Dunstpartikel hoch in der Atmosphäre, zum Beispiel durch Sahara Staub.

Damit wir das Purpurlicht in der Atmosphäre sehen können, braucht es zwei verschiedene Arten von Reflektionen: Der Beobachter sieht rotes und blaues Licht am Himmel. Diese beiden Quellen werden in unseren Augen und in unserem Gehirn gemischt und wir sehen das Purpurlicht.

Abende im November und Oktober sind oft eine gute Zeit um das Purpurlicht bei klarem Himmel zu sehen. Es gibt verschiedene Konditionen, die für das Purpurlicht verantwortlich sind: Zum Beispiel der Luftdruck, der Wind oder welche Arten von Partikeln sich in der Atmosphäre befinden.

Manchmal ist es nicht so eindeutig, was die Ursache für das Purpurlich ist. Aber wenn das Purpurlicht sehr intensiv ist, kann eine vulkanische Eruption oder ein Waldbrand die Ursache sein. Die legendären Bilder von William Turner mit den erinnerungswürdigen roten Himmeln wurden vielleicht durch das intensive Purpurlicht und das besondere Abendrot beeinflusst, das zu dieser Zeit aufgrund einer vulkanischen Eruption in Island in Europa herrschte.

 

 

Das Fotografieren von Purpurlicht ist leicht. Hauptsächtlich braucht man einen Platz wo der Himmel im Westen nicht durch Häuser oder Bäume verstellt ist. Es ist immer gut, ein Stativ dabei zu haben. Das Augen wird in der Dämmerung leicht getäuscht. Insbesondere bei solchen Himmelsbedingungen kann der Himmel heller erscheinen als er ist.

 

Bei der Gelegenheit, wo diese Bilder entstanden war ich gerade joggen und sah zu spät, dass es an diesem Abend einen interessanten Sonnenuntergang geben würde. Daher war mein Equipment nicht ideal für die Situation. Manchmal kann man seine Kamera auf einem Stein oder an der Ecke einer Mauer auflegen aber hier stand ich in der Mitte einiger Felder auf einem Feldweg. Ich wollte die ISO (Empfindlichkeit) meiner Kamera nicht zu weit aufdrehen, um Rauschen zu vermeiden, daher haben die Resultate ihre Grenzen. Aber es zeigt, was das Purpurlicht ist. Wenn man Photoshop oder eine andere Software benutzt, kann man durch vorsichtige Steigerung der Sättigung den Purpurlicht-Effekt unterstreichen.

 





Um noch interessantere Bilder zu machen könnte man den astronomischen Kalender anschauen und nach Abenden Ausschau halten, wenn zum Beispiel Venus oder Jupiter im Westen sichtbar sind oder am Besten ein Planet und der Mond ein Rendez-Vous am Himmel haben. Im Zusammenspiel mit der Dämmerung ergeben sich dann eindrucksvolle Szenarien.

Manchmal können auch Wolken in der Stratosphäre zu intensiven Abendrot-Phänomenen führen. Zur Zeit dieser Fotoaufnahmen waren jedoch keine stratosphärischen Wolken oder vulkanische Asche im Spiel, sondern es waren ganz einfach ein paar warme Tage mit einem klaren Himmel während des sogenannten Indian summer.

by Waldmeister Categories: German Version (Deutsch)Tags: , , , ,

Indian Summer And Blue October Sky, October 14, 2017

New temperature records were reached between October 11-17, 2017 in Eastern Germany. There was a long-lasting period of warm dry weather as in the same time Ireland and England got hit by devastating Hurricane Ophelia.

Even there are a few new extreme weather patterns the warm weather in autumn, however, is a normal phenomenon called “Indian Summer”. A term coined in Northern America it became synonymous with the time of colored trees and warm temperatures after the first cold days in autumn. In Middle Europe often a long-lasting high-pressure system is responsible for these periods of stable warm weather. However, due to the time of the year, it’s often accompanied by mist in the morning hours.

In the alpine region, the warm temperatures can be also created by the “Foehn“. There is also another term “Golden October” when the sun shines still bright and most of all we see a brilliant blue sky.

The sky is particularly impressing when going into the Alps where the sky is even bluer. The still strong sunlight bathes the mountains in a warm colored light.

This is a good time for photographers. The October sky is great for intense colors and even the days are already much shorter there are enough hours of sunshine.

The following pictures were taken at the south-side of the “Wetterstein-Mountains” in the Leutasch valley. The most famous mountain of the Wetterstein mountain is the “Zugspitze” near Garmisch. The Leutasch valley in Austria is less crowded and a great hiking area. One trail leads to the “Wettersteinhütte”, a cozy mountain cabin. Up there, there is a great panorama of mountains on all sides at a height of 1720 meters.

/a>Stock photography by Peter Engelmann at Alamy

Hikers love October because you have this spectacular distant view. The air is not so hot and humid as in summer and you can look very far. From the cabin (The “Wettersteinhütte”) the glaciers of the Tuxer Alpen (Tyrol) were visible that day. Morning hours are often the best time, thus it’s good to start the trip very early.





In the afternoon there are soon long shadows. Strong contrast is then the challenge for the photographer. Here HDR techniques could be useful. The best thing is to shoot in RAW-Mode to have a couple of options later.

An interesting phenomenon is the dynamic of the temperature during this season and type of October weather in the Alps: In the sunshine, it can be warm like in the summer. If you walk on a trail in bright sunshine it can be hot and you’ll start to sweat. However as soon as you descend into the shadows in the valley you feel an instant drop in temperature. And it doesn’t take long to get cold.

Sometimes pockets of warm air can still be felt or there is a sudden drop in temperature. Therefore hikers and photographers need to be equipped with clothes both for warm temperatures and colder temperatures. Nights can be really cold. Indian summer is a tricky thing – it feels like summer but it isn’t.

by Waldmeister Categories: Autumn, Seasons, Travel TipTags: , , , , ,

September 13, 2017, Storm Sebastian

Germany was hit on September 13, 2017 by a deadly windstorm. “Sebastian”. The storm did a lot of damage in Northern Germany and killed three people. Also Southern Germany was affected by the storm. In Upper Bavaria the alps could be seen very clearly. T

his was similar like the “Foehn-Effect” but not necessarily the same like the “Foehn-Effect”. The “Foehn” is a dry wind similar to the “Santa-Ana” wind, the “Foehn-Effect” on the East side of the Scottish Highlands or The “Chinook”. It occurs when moist air is rising on one side of the mountains and turns into warm downslope winds on the other side. Often it is the southern side of the alps where rain clouds are climbing.

Then it can become suddenly very warm in the valleys and the countryside adjacent to the mountains on the northern side. It could be also vice versa and then you have warm weather for example in the Tessin and a lot of rain on the Northern side of the alps.





The “Foehn-Effect” can be dramatic in itself. With temperatures climbing very fast there is a sudden danger of avalanches in the alps in the winter. Also, the “Foehn” is held responsible for health and mental problems. Sometimes when the traffic for example in Munich feels crazy, drivers doing weird things the “Foehn” is said to be the culprit.

In this situation, it was basically that the windstorm came from the Southwest. In Southern-Germany there wasn’t so much rain but there was no dust thus the Alps appeared closer as they are. The next day the weather calmed down but in some areas, there were still train delays due to Sebastian.

The windstorm was predicted but it is still a challenge for weather-services to predict the exact path of a storm. On a much minor scale, it was a bit like with “Irma” which took a slightly different path of destruction. It will be a task for the future to develop even more detailed systems for weather-warnings to prevent tragic incidents as it happened due to this windstorm.

The extreme weather events in 2017 raised again the question if the weather is becoming more extreme and yes, it seems true to a certain extent. It will be especially difficult also in the future to do precise nowcasts of storms like this one. Therefore it is important that people take precautions when severe weather events like “Sebastian” are announced. One important rule is to not go into the woods.

If possible driving should be reduced and people should be on alert when driving on rural roads with a lot of trees on both sides. Usually, windstorms in Europe do not destroy whole buildings so unlike the hurricanes people are safe when staying at home. “Sebastian” was the first windstorm of autumn 2017 and likely more storm systems will follow in Europe.

Storms happen between October and December but there is also often this “Foehn-Effect” in Bavaria or a longer lasting high-pressure system in Middle Europe. When this happens people speak of a “Golden October” due to the colors of the leaves. The “Foehn-Effect” is a chance for photographers in the alpine regions to take spectacular pictures but need sometimes a bit of experience due to the light conditions.

There is often a very bright light during daytime and in the evening the days quickly become shorter. Upper Bavaria, for example, offers many excellent viewpoints like the Hohen Peissenberg where there is an exceptional sight of the Alps.

 

 

by Waldmeister Categories: Autumn, Seasons, Severe Weather, WindstormTags: