Cloudy without meatballs

maxcastle · Joined: 14 Apr 2012 Posts: 492

I took this about two years ago with my 400d and the kit lens which is an 18-55mm . I think it kind of sums up the weather here. The main problem i think is that there is nothing of interest in the foreground but then again i don't know much. critique at will!

#1

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

This composition can be of meteorological interest, but as photography, it does not work (for me).
In photography you should choose a subject and organize the photo to "underscore" it.
In this case, the subject is the cloud. So, as you have already noticed, the foreground as it is does not
add anything to the photo.
Much better to isolate the cloud (I mean frame the cloud alone), and use exposure and contrast to make it stand out.

Clouds are a classical subject in photography. Look at what XIX and early XX century photographers have done with clouds:

Gustave Le Gray (classic pictorial composition):

Alfred Stieglitz (more modern abstract composition):

maxcastle · Joined: 14 Apr 2012 Posts: 492

Ah,. The thing i don't like about those pics is you don't really get any idea of scale. I'm sure they are technically very good but to me they are just clouds, maybe a bit more interesting in shape than some but i see nothing else (theres probably issues of composition,light etc i'm sure that are over my head). What i tried to do was capture the sheer scale of the clouds as opposed to the minute size of the town and buildings in the foreground. Granted i didn't do it very well and didn't get across my intention, which i suppose was to show how nature dwarfs all man made structures. It was nice of you to take the time to look at it and give it some thought, i appreciate it.

Gurdie · Expire: 2013-02-20

Your pic seems a bit flat - read uninteresting - to me.

You could try some PP to brighten the foreground, add the contrast in the clouds etc. I hope You captured this in RAW?

There�s an example about the PP with this kind of picture:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/1photo-pages/the_making_of_the_pilbara_storm.shtml

maxcastle · Joined: 14 Apr 2012 Posts: 492

Thanks Gurdie, i see what you mean from the link, with the pp i think it would improve my pic quite a bit, unfortunately no raw Sad

Selenium_27 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 118 Location: Strasbourg, France

@ Orio : Is it a personal collection ?
I'd like more of those Smile