Sun and Clouds

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 29, 2012161 views6 comments

This is an attempt to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. All of the weather forecasts predicted clear skies this morning. I was up and out well before dawn with an image in mind that I wanted to shot. Unfortunately they missed the forecast and there were clouds on both horizons and the only clear sky was directly overhead. I took the advise of several photographers on this web site and instead of leaving I decided to just wait and the sun did some interesting things behind the clouds after it got up. This is one of them. I will post one or two more in the future. I will be very interested in you comments. I left the little line of tree tops at the bottom. Unsure whether to crop them out or not. Thanks for your comments and critiques. This is the same area as my last image, only no fog and a different view.

Canon 40D
Sigma 17-70
All settings on manual
Shutter 1/200
Aperture f10
ISO 100
23mm
Tripod and shutter release
Slight color correction in PSE9

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on June 29, 2012 at 4:40 PM

The unconventional composition makes great use of that unusual light. I would try to clone out the tree tops. Nice work.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on June 29, 2012 at 5:08 PM

You recommend I crop mine so I'm going to recommend you crop yours

Seriously though I love about half of the total image cropped, taking some off the bottom and the left. The sky in that upper right is beautiful with the sun mixing with the smokey clouds.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on June 29, 2012 at 6:48 PM

Nice sky-scape. I will second John's crop suggestion as the left side is a little empty compared to the action and energy on the right. There seems to be a bit of a halo along the ridges but it's minor. The sun and clouds have my total attention here. Nicely done

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on June 29, 2012 at 8:23 PM

Richard,

I think this is wonderful! Might give ole Stan a run for his money! ;-) And I'll be the contrarian here and say that I like this just as presented. The way the clouds and rays are radiating out from the sun, cropping would actually cut in to that and take away from that radiating look. The sun is off-center just enough to make this not feel, well, centered.

The only minor nit I have is that there appears to be some slight haloing along the ridge at the bottom, mostly on the bottom right half along the ridge top. Not sure if that's just me, the atmosphere or what. but thought I would mention it.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on June 30, 2012 at 12:35 PM

Richard, I love the sky. Not sure about the mountains but I do think that if you cropped about 1/3rd from the bottom, this would make a great background for another shot and/or possibility a texture for those that work in that arena.

best,

carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on July 7, 2012 at 5:27 PM

This image is all about the sky! What an amazing pastel color palette and nice soft transitions in color and light. Although the land serves as an anchor point of reference, this image doesn't seem to need it. It's all about the sky!

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments