Clouds over Lorton, VA - Best viewed "larger"

So ... if you know anything about me at all, you know that I am a big city girl who has been longing to taste living in the West in the land of big skies and small towns, mountains and streams and wild animals....

Last night, during the 25-mile commute that took an hour (traffic was light in the DC area), I noticed that the sky over the interstate was getting more and more interesting. My car pool colleague was less than enthusiastic about looking up. But the minute that I pulled into my own parking lot, I whipped out my camera and took a few shots. This is one of them.

Please understand that the entire time I was gawking at this gorgeous sky I was thinking: I wish I lived in Montana or someplace with a "Big Sky"!! Then I could see these clouds 360, and I could take some amazing photos.

I need to move.

...you know how I feel....

 

Lovely sky, fun use of that wide angle.

I think you are a big sucker for skies and clouds. I still recall our talk of this subject.

It's great you have an eye for clouds in your city too but I can very much recommend the rural life.... even it's a big step to take but sometimes it's worth it.

Anotehr thing came to my mind: so this is your parking lot ? ... and where you live? PNmembers are posting photo after photo here .. put a lot of efforts and soul in them and we enjoy to see them here .... maybe becoming more and more critical of what we are seeing and sometimes we forget there are real human beings behind the photos living in places, going to work like your selfe.

 

Strange .. but your words of this being your parking lot reminded me of never forgetting the respect for the people behind the photos.

 

Funny what great clouds can do to you.

 

I like it a lot Lou Ann ... wide angle?

 

(pondering ... I think Lou Ann should make a thread in NW .. something like my cloudy place)

I should do that ... maybe this weekend when I have a few more minutes! :-) I am a sucker for a big sky. But I am also very much a people person, and since I live alone, I try to at least live in a place that has a lot of people around. I have attached a copy of the same photo with my two cars indicated....

 

Yes, this was taken with a 10-22mm lens set at 10mm.

Any comments are appreciated! :-)

Lou Ann, I am a sucker for gorgeous skies too. I would move west, but my family, grandchildren etc. are here. Guess thats why we go west alot on our trips. That's a beautiful sky you have captured. Sondra

very nice sky shot...congrats.

Very nice shot. Good colours, and depth. The sky, and clouds are great. Have a nice weekend. Best regards from Sweden!

Lou, a wonderfl departure from your norm. Really like the sky and clouds in this shot. Am getting settled here in Texas. Sky and clouds are beautiful here.

WOW, Lou Ann, why moving to Montana if you can have those wonderful skies in Virginia?

Let me congratulate you on the two last daring photos you are showing us (for our sheer delight). It looks like you are moving two big leaps forward in your photography. Great use of the extra wide angle, as well.

Thanks, ya'll! I love my wide angle!! It simply can NOT make a sky look bad. :-)

 

By the way ... the car pool colleague looked at this shot this morning and was rather impressed. He shoulda' looked up! :-D

Great sky, Lou Ann! We often see beautiful sunrises here in S Texas, but we are always driving down the highway, with no interesting landmarks! You've made this very appealing with cars and apartments.

There are too many people who never even look up. Now if you want volume, I would suggest Nebraska. F L A T. But we had blue skies...just blue, no clouds. There's always some thing we want to change...and I see that as a good thing.

Oh wow, Lou Ann. I'm a sky fan, too, and this is among the best skies I've ever seen anywhere. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.

Sky lover here to LA... WONDERFUL JOB WITH THAT LENS!!!!!!!!!!

 

you know I think you ROCK!

 

 

I would have stared too, Lou Ann. We don't often have interesting cloud formations. Honors goes to the first to identify the cloud type. :-)

Stratocumulous?

 

Michael, darn you, I wasn't going to spend hardly any time this morning online. I was just going to look quick to see if I had any comments, and then go get "stuff" done around the house. LOL!! You GOT me! I sat and looked through the whole tutorial a couple of times ... and then e-mailed one of my teacher friends who I think teaches that stuff in her science classes.

 

Michael, THANK you for always knowing everything about anything and making highly intelligent comments with information for the rest of us. :-) I always love your visits!!

 

Was my answer right?

Okay, so another question, Mr. Michael: why did the light have different color tones to it, almost in stripes? Why does it look blue/grey in some places and more of a black/grey in others ... but not in a continuum? More like in waves?

Lou Ann, my first thought is that we shall have to take up a collection and buy you an even wider lens. We will be repaid many times over if you keep posting photos like this.

 

My second thought is, "What a commute you have!" I live two and one-half miles from work, a luxury that I have not enjoyed in a very long time.

 

--Lannie

The sky is really gorgeous but why is it so grainy ? Interesting to know the street where you live but perhaps you could try to lighten the foreground and the low part of the first houses. Given the important distortion of the verticals I don't know if it is possible to set them upright, and perhaps it is not necessary for this type of shot were the landscape in itself is not the most important subject. Warm regards, Henri.

Thanks, Lannie & Henri. Henri - notice that I didn't post this for ratings. I was just wanting to have a discussion on clouds (and location!) ... don't really care about the photographic quality of the image, as I would never take a serious photo of my condo development. I'm not sure why it's grainy, except that I was in such a hurry (the sky was obviously changing!), so I shot at whatever ISO the camera was already set on ... maybe that's it? And, I very much lightened the buildings & cars in the foreground, too because it was dusk and very, very dim lighting, so all of that stuff was almost black when the image came out of the camera. (Lannie, that is why I keep saying that I want to move West! Well, it's one of the main reasons anyway ... too much DRIVING here!)

Cracking sky, Lou Ann! I identify the cloud as the 'big and scary' type. Otherwise known as the 'where is that umbrella?' type. I think the colours are due to the sun shining through. How about a bit of perspective correction in PS?

I like the correction, Colin - thanks. Funny thing about these clouds ... it definitely LOOKED like rain ... but never rained. It didn't rain within the 24 or so hours before, and it hasn't rained since. These nasty looking clouds rolled through and then cleared out overnight, and the next day was bright and sunny in the DC way, without even a whisp in the sky.

Now here's an interesting thought.....when viewing the thumbnail if I squinted my eyes I saw a high rocky canyon on one side and a forrest on the other with a spectacular Big Sky looming overhead! Try it, you might like it! This is an awesome sky and I like the distorted perspective of the row of apartments. I have a sunrise shot still in the camera that I'll get around to editing a bit tonight and post, I had the exposure and saturation set at plus one in camera so be prepared for Color.....this is fun.

Thanks for the visit, Susan - I honestly was standing in my parking lot thinking about you when I shot this! :-)