Clouds to the West from Hobson Rd.

--Lannie

i gave it a five, but wanted to change it to a six.  wouldn't let me.  sorry.  i do like the Rothkoness of it.  I've been thinking about pictures like this because I took one like it recently, but I was loath to put it up.  i present it here so I know you will see it.  best, j

Well, I like yours very much, Jamie.  It is way better than mine--plus I will bet that you didn't have to murder the original file with curves to get what you got.

Sky shots often leave me at loose ends, since where to "end" them is often even more arbitrary than with other shots--so I just shoot them and then come home and see what I can find and crop down to.  I don't think that many of my sky shots are going to escape being cropped (or otherwise processed as well).

--Lannie

Lannie, this is a great shot of a stormy landscape; the dark tones in the sky really give that feeling.  I suggest you crop about 80% of the bottom black, leaving just enough to form an adequate base.  In addition to removing empty space, it would make this more of a panorama, which I think is appropriate for the subject.  I think you've framed this nicely; I'd be looking to the clouds (sometimes to the silhouetted foreground) for clues as to natural ends.  You have a small, dark cloud on the right that naturally ends the sun-lit portion of the sky, and you've got all of the rounded white cloud on the left, and anything after that (e.g., the very small dark clouds) form a natural edge.  If that rounded hill on the left 1/3 had been at or to the left of the rounded cloud, that would have been a great place to place an edge [if you really want to crop, you might consider a square with that hill in the lower left corner, but that's another photo].  As you say, sometimes it's hard to find a good place to start or stop in these scenes.

Hi Lannie,

Nice results. A fine "stormy mood", much like Florida sky in the afternoon.

Boy, do I have some top notch fixed focal length lens in the 14mm to 35mm that you would find to be awesome with your Kodak camera.

Best Regards,  Mike

Thanks, Stephen. I appreciate the suggestions.

Mike, I would love to try some good Nikon primes.  I know that you have a bunch.  Thanks as always.

--Lannie

You're absolutely right.  I did almost nothing to mine - just took it dark and lightened and recovered up one stop because of the finickyness of the M8.

Clouds almost always look more dramatic in pictures because the visual system tones down the real thing.  No need to push them.  best, j

Thanks, Jack.  I pasted this one up pretty good, kneading the light every way I could.  Perhaps I overworked the dough a bit?

Ditto to you, Jamie--except that, flat out of the camera, it had very little to offer.  Sometimes I try too hard to make something out of nothing.  On my drive back home, however, the clouds visible here suddenly appeared in perfect relief off to my left, but it was too late to stop and try to get them.

--Lannie

HAIL FELL DURING THE AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT IN SOME AREAS:

http://www.salisburypost.com/News/032612-WEB-hail-in-woodleaf-qcd

--Lannie

I pulled down all the colour portraits from the da Vinci exhibition day.  I put up new monochrome ones.  Hoping for some attention....  j

Nice shot.  Even like better the one re-did by Jamie.  Best Regards,