Posted on July 24, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 25 Comments
If you like fluffy white clouds — I mean, really like fluffy white clouds — you should be in Ohio right about now.
Bigger version here. And hey, what do you know — using a polarized filter does help.
Taunting the tauntable since 1998
John Scalzi, proprietor – JS
Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS
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Polarized filter?
Dr. Phil
Fixed.
Yeah, but it’s hot in Ohio too.
*stays the hell inside*
It’s not that hot at the moment. It’s 83 degrees. That’s doable.
Wow, its a good thing you are so busy. Otherwise we would have gotten a half dozen cloud pictures today. Stop with the snapping of photos and get to writing, dagnabit!
Speaking of which:
I really like the fluffy white clouds. I classify them under the larger category of “weather.” As you know, we don’t get a lot of “weather” here in L.A., so it’s always nice to get a reminder of what that’s like.
I spoke to someone in Maryland yesterday who described thunder to me. VERY exciting.
I read somewhere that the “average” cumulus cloud has 17 tons of water in it. Amazing!
I cannot see the bigger picture. They just keep trying to get me to sign up for a flickr account.
Don’t kid yourself John. If a cloud ever got the chance, he’d eat you and everyone you care about!
/simpsons
I’m told that aside from being pretty, a sky like that means very good things for hang-gliders. Not that I’ve ever, you know, been hang-gliding, but what’s the point of being a writer if you don’t get to learn cool things about the effect clouds have on adventuresome hobbies?
I see a sailboat. Oh, and a duck. Oh, oh, and there’s this one on the left side just above the trees that looks like the head of a Luck Dragon!
Being in a pedantic mood, I suspect that you used either a polarizer or a polarizing filter, unless you got one of those blue and yellow trick things. Good results, polarize is one of those things that’s difficult-to-impossible to do in the darkroom or with digital manipulation.
Now all you have to do is find a cloud that looks like a cat.
that’s a beautiful sky, John. I was in the area for the dayton air show just a few days ago and the sky was a smudgy, smoggy haze more gray-brown around the horizon than blue. It’s good to see that the torrential downpours tidied things up a bit.
@0 John Scalzi writes:
> And hey, what do you know — using a polarized filter does help.
Hell yes, it does. As would shooting with Ektachrome film, if it’s still available.
The only thing I don’t see in your sky is sheep. Where are the sheep?
Personally, I think the clouds in the desert SW are INCREDIBLE and I’ve lived in Ohio before getting to AZ.
Ektachrome is still available, in several sizes, speeds, and flavors, from your “professional” dealer.
What? Actual film? Madness!
Yes, Ohio was nice this week. I was in Dayton and Evendale, the sky was puffy, the temperatures were temperate, and it was really nice.
Alas, I was _trying_ to fly back to Boston. Getting a plane out of the Wright brothers’ home town proved difficult due to lousy weather on the east coast. For future reference, the Dayton airport hotel is adequate in a pinch, but dated.
My stay-at-home wife, a native New Englander couldn’t remember a more violent stretch of summer weather.
But the weather in Ohio was nice. Sigh.
Regards,
Jack ‘I’m finally home’ Tingle
Oh yeah. Polarizers, can make a nice difference. I picked up one for $20, slapped it on my lens, and shot the fish in my buddy’s pond where the glare was just insane. They’re good for getting the colors to jump.
Other than that, can I come over and drive golf balls off your porch?
Nice clouds, though. I hope they stuck around for the sunset.
I’ll credit digital for re-awakening my love of photography as a hobby, and I’ve learned a lot in the last 18 months with a digital (the instant feedback is beyond wonderful; my first real training was with a 4×5, “fast” then was running back to the darkroom, it was at least 12 minutes from click to seeing a negative in red light.)
But I am going back to film, at least in part. Thinking about making one exposure, rather than banging off twenty and still not getting it “right”. A digital P&S is a great meter, though, especially with CHDK providing both live color histogram and live zebra highlights.
Take TWO or more photos. Use a tripod. Blend the photos by using layers. This will get the clouds and the landscape. With digital cameras multiple exposures can be a road to a better exposed result. Course there is the problem that the clouds move. Auto bracketing can help out with that problem.
Not the solution to every image but a useful tool, especially when John needs to procrastinate with Photoshop.
You can spend a lot of time in the digital manipulation universe. “High dynamic range imaging” is the generic phrase to search for if you want more details on the process. Moving things can cause problems, and not only clouds; the sun moves, too. Highlights show up in one image but not the others, or show up differently.
Very fond memories of shooting Northwestern football games for the yearbook with Ektachrome 200 Professional EPD in my pair of Nikon F3s — this was in the era when NU lost all the time, but when you’d get a high blue sky and bright sunshine against the green carpet and purple uniforms, plus all the bright colors of the opposing fans, it was a beautiful thing.
Man, we had to work in those days. Carrying enough rolls of film, changing rolls, waiting for the film to be processed to see what you got. We also had to carry the camera bags up hill both ways.
Dr. Phil