Cumulus Clouds over Denver on August 30th 6:00 pm. Facing East Unstable atmosphere
Clouds. We see them every day. Until this class I never realized how interesting and beautiful clouds can be. I always found myself looking up trying to figure out more and more about where these very impressive. I spent a lot of time looking for the right clouds and something that was new and different. This seems appealing at first but what about the clouds we see every day? This is the scenario I was looking at. I was on the way to a restaurant and pulled over on the side of the road to take pictures. I took them overlooking the highway and there were a lot of light poles in the way and had to edit those out in post processing. There are so many interesting things that go in the physics of clouds. We learned a lot about these in class and we will go into this in a little more detail in the following paragraphs.
To take this photo I was literally on the side of the highway taking images through lots of street lamps and such. My camera is a Canon 7D with a 18-135 mm lens. I can’t tell how much the lens was actually zoomed but the other information is readily available. It was a bright day so I set the ISO at 200. The f-stop was 8 and the shutter speed was 1/1600. All of these settings show that it was extremely bright outside this day. These pictures are quite a bit easier to take than darker images in my opinion. It seems like no matter how much I change the settings on my camera sometimes in certain light settings the picture never turns out well.
You can learn a lot about the clouds you are taking pictures of by looking at a few simple plots from the University of Wyoming’s weather site. You pick your location and it gives you a plot with a lot of different information. The main number we look at is the cape number. This picture was taken facing east from about us-36 and mcCaslin Bouldevard which is just slightly south east of Boulder Colorado. The cape number on my date, August 30th, 2016, is 157.1 which is well above the limit for having a stable atmosphere. Unstable atmospheres are what allow giant cumulus clouds to be formed. The differences in densities of different layers of air let the less dense air rise up while carrying moisture, which condenses and becomes there towering cumulus like we see here. These may be in the more developed stage of towering cumulus but all the same they are towering cumulus. They are very beautiful clouds with many different curls and lumps. There are assorted clouds in front of the towering cumulus that give the picture some good contrast and I especially like the dark spots beneath the clouds which are very interesting to me as well.
Overall, I was taught a lot in this assignment. Knowledge about clouds, the fact that cumulus clouds don’t appear in the winter, to where to go if you want information about weather patterns and information on atmospheric data. I very much enjoyed going out on trips with friends from class and taking pictures of clouds and just finding random times in between to take pictures. Who would’ve known that the picture that ended up being the one that was randomly taken on a trip to a restaurant? In conclusion, this assignment taught me very much and the opportunity to take pictures and learn how I can make them better is very much appreciated.
24 Comments. Leave new
I really enjoy the range of colors present in the image from the deep blue to the oranges and golds. The shadows of and on the clouds provide fascinating detail. Perhaps crop the photo so that the horizon is either in the image or out, the small portion present in the image seems discontinuous.
It is amazing how much color is in this picture. With the yellows at the bottom and the blues in the top contrasted with the bright white and dark black, it really makes the clouds feel alive. Great photograph.
I love the contrasting colors from the top and bottom of the cloud; very interesting. The details are well defined, even in shadows. I feel like there could be some deep metaphor about the nature of people here….but I’m no philosopher.
The color change of the clouds is very interesting, going from very bright white to a dark blue. The picture really shows the depth of the sky. Very well done.
This is an amazing image capturing the large range of colors in the late summer sky. I love the differences in color, from the deep blue sky to the cotton-white cumulus cloud tops, then the dark gray under sides. There are even some greens and yellows where the sun is dissipating through the thin sections. Great job!
What a classic Colorado cloud view. What nice growing cumulus clouds. Nice blues in the top of the image that work well with the grays and warmer tones towards the bottom of the image. The range of shades of gray in the different clouds is one of my favorite parts of the image. I would consider applying either a slight crop or clone stamp to remove the little sliver of land from the bottom right.
You did a really good job in post processing, you can’t even see any light streaks from cars. The contrast in this is brilliant and it makes for a beautiful picture.
I really like the contrast of your photo, and the framing really makes the image.
1. The artistic composition of the image is very nice.
2. The flow is well shown.
3. The photographic technique is well done with the foreground brighter and the details of the background still visible and intriguing.
Great image! I like how the front is light and it is darker in the distance. Good work. The only thing i would change is the bottom right trees.
I really likely how you captured the vertical development of the cloud system. I like your wide view as well.
Wow! The contrast is amazing, looks like rain clouds. The flow is demonstrated well.
Great lighting, and an excellent use of contrast! The clouds look very menacing on the bottom.
Fantastic image, i like how its dark with some orangish tint near the bottom and how it becomes lighter up near the top of the image with a very vivid blue. Great job capturing the clouds changing colors from the bottom of the cloud to the top
Love this picture. I am a big fan of the fluffiness of the clouds. I love the contrast between the light fluffy and the darker clouds underneath. Really gives it depth!
Good framing! It is a sharp picture and displays the cumulus clouds well. nice job!
Very pleasing contrast between the colors in the top and bottom of the image. Conveys a sense of two different realities, dark on the earth’s side, light on the sky side.
Nice dynamic range, the clouds are well lit, the picture looks dramatic. Cool!
I like the way the photo provides a long depth of field. The contrasting colors of the photo provide a nice effect for the overall image.
Clear image, well focused. Well done with the deep colors. The darks really help the clouds to pop in the image.
– Great photo seems to be well resolved.
– I like the contrast between the dark and light areas.
– It is quiet before the storm!
Art: The color contrast between the dark clouds and sky is great..
Flow: The flow is quickly understandable and easily recognized.
Photographic technique: The focus of the clouds is great and the background color is dark but I like it.
I like the contrast in the clouds. Darker underneath and bright on top. Beautiful change in color from low elevation to higher elevation.
Nice contrast range, really like how dark it is towards the bottom of the image and nice blue sky up top.