This morning there was a pretty good sundog sun pillar preceding sunrise which split the Rockport Breakwater.
Click the photo for two more shots and larger photos. This shot was taken while standing in front of Chapin’s Rock which is in Chapin’s Gully. I wondered who Chapin was so I looked him up. The Reverend Edwin Hubble Chapin had a cottage on Andrews Point (still there) and “a few rods” away, according to his biography was a gully that the preacher swam in most every afternoon. He died in his Pigeon Cove cottage in 1880 but he was a pretty big deal so back to Brooklyn to his last church for the funeral he went. PT Barnum was a pal and went to the funeral as well as “more preachers than have ever attended one funeral.” A Universalist, he preached in Rockport many times to a packed house.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Andrews Point is one of my favorite spots on earth & sunrise is the best time of day. Enjoyed the history lesson. Great shot! Thanks for sharing, Paul.
LikeLike
Hi Paul, great capture. In the past I’ve shot a couple of these and in investigating on the net found out that they were called “Sun Pillars”. Check them out…
LikeLike
Yup, your two photos are exactly what was happening this morning. It looked like the sun was actually up in the clouds already then really became a pillar. I had to look up sun dog just now so I can keep them straight. Sun dogs are on either side of the sun:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog
thanks
LikeLike
Thank you Paul for both the history note and sun pillar photos–WOW!!!
LikeLike
almost a Sun Pillar this am but nice shot. clouds where off. 😦
LikeLike
Such a terrific shot! That water is absolutely hypnotic. Wow!
LikeLike
Hi Paul,
When was the shot?
Skip
LikeLike
6:50 AM yesterday Feb 4. the first shot was right at sunrise, the other pillars a few minutes before. The sun pillar was up for at least ten minutes before the sun.
LikeLike
I didn’t think the sunrise came up over the breakwater this time of year.
LikeLike
It’s changing pretty rapidly now.
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/
LikeLike
sooooo beautiful. Something about your waters there, it is so incredibly alluring…like no where else i’ve seen…
LikeLike
OMG. Absolutely phenomenal picture.
LikeLike