If it were only a mirage

An "inferior mirage" over the Gulf of Mexico creates the illusion of a second sun under the setting sun. To see the Etruscan Vase and Omega Sun stages of the mirage see the first comment below (all taken with a few seconds of each other). FYI, I should have been patient and kept shooting this as inferior mirages are an excellent sign you will have a chance at catching the green flash as the sun goes down below the horizon. Learn more about inferior mirages here ( http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/explain/simulations/inf-mir/Kaplan_photos.html ) .

After hearing the beaches we visited last Christmas on the Florida Panhandle have now been soaked by oil, I felt compelled to post another photo from our viist. I feel fortunate to have seen this amazing area before it was spoiled by the BP oil spill. Godspeed to those working to clean up and stop the spill, thank you for your efforts. This was taken from Pensacola Beach. I applied a slight cross-processing to this one to pop the blue color of the Gulf, the other two below were not cross-processed.

FloridaSunsetEtruscan vase stageInferior MirageAtmosphericOpticsAtmosphereAstronomySunSolarSolDuskOceanGulf of MexicoGulfWaterLandscapeNaturePensacola BeachPensacolaBeachNikonD3002010Michael Menefee

From The Variety Collection