clouds, Clouds, CLOUDS!

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that one of the most important factors to a great outdoor shot are the clouds.  I now find myself gazing up at the sky more often, hoping for good clouds if I’m out taking a photo.  I’ll search satellite radar online and watch for fronts moving through and hope things pan out.  Sometimes they do, but more often than not, they do not.  With the lighthouse featured here, there was some nice cloud movement.  I wanted to capture the sense of movement, while the lighthouse stands unyielding to the relentless weather.

Watching the sunrise for so many years, I have learned that colors can start to appear 30-45 minutes before the star crosses the horizon.  Life at sunrise is uncomplicated and calm.  Morning fog crossing the lake seemed ethereal.  And there were just enough clouds to reflect some varied hues of pink and purple.

I love it when everything falls into place.  A night time storm was pushing out to the Atlantic, just as the sun rose.  When the sun peeked out from behind the clouds on the horizon here, warming rays of orange light burst through and the clouds caught them.

This is still one of my favorite sunrise photos.  So much color along the horizon with the balloons, and cool classic Corvair, lush green summer grass, and THAT SKY.  All of the little clouds that dot the sky just help add a sense of depth.

Even in somber moments, there is beauty.  These lights usually travel up in the sky for thousands of feet.  It just so happened that a cloud intersected the beams, illuminating the heavens above.

We all get that cloud that casts a shadow over us in life.  We just need to realize there is beauty all around us still.  Just take a breath, look, and change your perspective.

Everytime I try and think of a name for this photo, I always come back to, “Mickey Mouse Ears”.  And now that I’ve said that, you can’t unsee it either!

Nothing like a good storm to whip up some wicked clouds.

“What’s that over there?”  You never know what you’ll see at low tide.  The story behind this is that a couple pulled up here in a bus to watch the sunset.  The tide came in and the bus got stuck.  There it sat for decades and this is about all that is left.

Sometimes no words are needed.

Swing on by my Etsy store if you’d like to see what I have up for sale.  Not only do I offer prints of various sizes, you can ask for something on canvas or metal  and I will work with you on a custom order.