3X CLOUDS

Observation point at Dubuque Regional Airport, view to the southeast, at 35 mm focal length, slight crop

I have been on the road the last couple days and have seen some remarkable cloud formations. Driving mostly on interstate and state highways I had to let pass many good opportunities to take out the camera. Finally, on the way home a stop was made at the observation point of the Dubuque Regional Airport this evening. I like this place for cloud photography for two reasons. You have a 360 degree view and no cables or wires obstruct the view. While not a friend of the humidity that comes with the hot temperatures of summer here in the Midwest, I love the clouds that often come with it. All three photos were made within five minutes and in each direction light and clouds were different.

View to the northeast, at 95 mm, slight crop

View to the southwest, at 32 mm, slight crop

HOT SUMMER NIGHT

I was not the only one who tried to capture the magic of this sun-filled anvil cloud, hanging in the sky to the north last night. I saw other fellow photographers pointing their lens in this direction during our night shooting event. First I tried it with the wide angle lens between 16 and 35 mm but had the feeling there were too many other things present that distracted from the subject. I found my way to tell the story about a hot summer night in the Midwest by zooming in to 105 mm and leaving just a small sliver of prairie and trees in the frame to give it some sense of place.

A sign and a small part of a bright concrete trail were removed with “content-aware fill” in Adobe Photoshop. This function has greatly improved since one of the last updates and is a very powerful tool for “romancing” a landscape by cleaning up from man-made garbage.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @105 mm, 1/250s, f/8, ISO100

STORY OF TRANSITION

There are not very many farms left here in the Midwest where the old buildings and farm structures are preserved. Unfortunately beautifully crafted wooden barns, stables, and farm houses have been or will be replaced by simple metal structures, concrete, and plastic siding. This is somehow understandable because the economy of farming dictates many of these changes, but the historic charm will be gone forever.

The farm in this picture has a mixture of old and new buildings and the photographer can still tell the story of transition with his image. Including the bright clouds gives the photo some visual depth. The eye will most likely go to the brightest part of the picture first, but from there it will move through the frame.

Photo: Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4, @46 mm, 1/640 s, f/8, ISO100