Badger has been chasing sunsets for years. Almost every evening, as long as the weather plays along, I’m out there with my camera, trying to capture the sky’s beauty. My friends and followers on social media often tell me they look forward to seeing nature’s vibrant colors and ever-changing moods through my photos.
Every sunset is unique in its own way. Even on foggy nights or clear, cloudless evenings, there are always subtle differences that catch my eye. Those shifting skies keep me coming back, time after time. I’ve witnessed all sorts of incredible phenomena — from Brocken Spectres to Crepuscular Rays to glowing Alpenglows — each one feeling a little otherworldly.
But last week, I saw a sunset unlike any other in my thousands of captures. As the sun dipped behind a bank of clouds, something extraordinary happened.
The sun’s shadow seemed to form a silhouette, almost like a spectre, but without a human figure in sight. What made it even stranger was the glowing halo around the sun, lighting up the backside of the cloud bank facing me. It was so breathtaking that I immediately grabbed my Canon and started snapping away.
I shared the photo with someone who knows far more about atmospheric science than I do, and they explained what I’d captured: “This corona-like phenomenon occurs when sunlight interacts with certain atmospheric conditions, like thin clouds or tiny particles, creating a glowing ring or halo around the sun. It’s rare because it needs specific conditions, such as high-altitude cirrus clouds with ice crystals that bend the sunlight just right.”
My expert called the photograph “stunning” and suggested I publish it with their explanation, keeping their name anonymous. My editor, Susan Dillard Espiritu, agreed — and when both an expert and my editor speak, I listen! So here it is: a sunset that felt like a once-in-a-lifetime moment, shared for all of you to enjoy.
Thomas Mabry – Honey Badger Images
Many of the HoneyBadgerImages are on display at instagram.com/honeybadgerimages.
