Not as many clouds as the day before yesterday evening but beauty everywhere. When I took a series of shots at this scene I thought already, the cell phone tower behind the barn has to go away in post process. To be honest, I do not like too many “contemporary” elements in my landscape photos. But back home at the computer I changed my mind for this image. The waxing moon was at 68% last night, 11% more than the day before, and the tall tower points exactly at it and kinda leads the eye there.
CLOUDS AGAIN
Clouds, Dubuque Regional Airport, Iowa, Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4, @95 mm, 1/500 s, f/10, ISO100
After a busy day with no time to get behind the camera this evening I thought I can share another image from last week, when great clouds set the stage at the Dubuque Regional Airport. I love the line the winding road takes between the surrounding hills and I tried to incorporate it into the arrangement of elements in the photo. The road leads the eye to the puffy storm cloud in the back, but it doesn’t stop there and the view goes up to the clouds above. I saw this image in black and white in my mind when I framed it in the viewfinder. Some very bright traffic signs and a power line were removed in Photoshop. Oh yeah, “men made clutter” doesn’t help a picture like this one…
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
CLOUDS AND FINDING A GOOD LOCATION TO SHOOT THEM
Storm clouds, near Five Points, Iowa
Joan and I went on a cloud chase by car as a line of thunderstorms went across the area yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately our garden didn’t receive a single drop of much needed rain and we never really found the BIG SKY, but a few clicks were made out in the countryside of the driftless area. This seems to be an easy task but after a while of driving around you realize, it becomes more and more difficult to find farm buildings that have some charm. I love old farm structures and they can make a nice middle ground for a photo with clouds. Many of the old barns have been replaced by metal buildings without any “soul”. This farm on a hill and the winding road to Five Points, Iowa had what I was hoping for. The clouds tell the story of the developing thunderstorm at the end of a typical hot and muggy day in July here in eastern Iowa.
A word about the post process of the image. There was no location along that gravel road without a number of power lines in the frame. Thanks to the content aware healing brush tool in Photoshop the removal was a breeze and took only a few minutes.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #14 - DYNAMIC IN THE SKY
Storm cloud over the Mississippi, Mud Lake, Iowa, June 2019
Here is another image from earlier this year. A thunderstorm had just passed our area and moved across the Mississippi River into Wisconsin and northwest Illinois. The storm was moving very fast and I made quite a few shots. The light and shape of the clouds in every photo looked quite different from the one before. I have photographed the Mississippi River at Mud Lake many times before and in every kind of weather. Rarely was I able to capture such a high dynamic in the sky.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #10 - “CLOUD FINGERS”
Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Breakthrough GND filter 0.6
Heading back home from a business trip in Wisconsin a couple days ago I saw some nice clouds formations developing on the horizon over the Mississippi Valley. Just before crossing the river into Iowa I was finally able to pull off the highway to a rest stop, located on top of the bluffs that border the valley. It was too late, the magic I saw while driving, with sun beams breaking through the “clouds fingers”, was already gone. Still not bad, but too much of the sun in the west was covered. Color didn’t really play an important role in the scene for the story and doing this in B&W brings back a little bit of the drama in the sky.
CHASING CLOUDS AGAIN
Thunderstorm cell moving out, near Sherrill, Eastern Iowa
A little storm cell showed up on the radar this evening and brought finally a few rain showers. I jumped in my car and tried to chase the clouds, hoping for some exciting light and drama in the sky. Well, the clouds dissolved pretty quickly and the big drama didn’t happen. I have photographed this old farm house many times before over the years. It’s condition doesn’t get any better, another reason for not making it the subject of my image, but in context with clouds and landscape it makes sense to include it anyway.