Tag Archives: clouds

Clouds Over the Valley

My trip to Rainbow Canyon gave me plenty of time to enjoy the scenery as the jets only showed up infrequently. It was a cool and clear day on the whole but there were some times when clouds moved in. This caused me some concern since I didn’t want to wait for a long time and then have jets show up when the valley was socked in!

Fortunately, the clouds did not get in the way of the main focus of the trip. We did get some clouds drifting over the valley far below us. We also got little puffs of cloud working their way up the canyon. One bank of cloud rose out of the canyon and across the ridge on the opposite side from me. I watched it drift across the surface gradually obscuring areas that had been clear a moment before.

Another small cloud formation drifted up the canyon towards me. It was an isolated little cloud and it drifted in my direction and floated up over the edge of the ridge and to one side of where I was standing before it dissipated. Then it was all clear again and I could go back to waiting for the jets.

AirEuropa to the Sun

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This example is not going to get me to the sun from Seattle. It will head to Europe before it starts transporting passengers. I saw it during test flying activities as it flew approaches to Paine Field. The sun was out but the skies were stormy so it made quite a dramatic sight as it bashed the pattern at Everett.

They even were kind enough to fly a missed approach the first time to get a different view of the jet. Then it was around the pattern and back in for a second approach, this time landing. The dark sky background was only in the direction of the approach so the roll out shots were far less dramatic.

Sunbeams Over Sandown Bay

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The stormy skies over the Island were very active in the Sandown Bay area. In the course of a couple of minutes, you could see the valleys on the opposite side of the bay have clouds wisp across them and then suddenly vanish from view entirely. They could be back a few minutes later and then gone again. The wind was blowing things through very rapidly. For a few moments, there were some great beams of light punching through the clouds and illuminating the water beneath. I was lucky to be able to get a few shots off before the clouds rolled through again and cut of the sun altogether.

Puffy Cloud Backdrops

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My personal preference is to shoot planes tight. I like to see the detail up close and usually strive to get that in my shots. However, sometimes I remember that there is more to it than that and there is something interesting about the context of the shot. It doesn’t have to be a detailed shot of the plane. It can be a wider shot when no one is looking at the plane expecting to see the intricacies of its structure.

Having some nice clouds to play with is an important part of the story. Going wide when the sky is blue is not really going to add any drama. However, some nice puffy clouds will certainly be appreciated in this situation. In this case I was with some friends at O’Hare shortly after a storm had passed through. Things had cleared up nicely but there was still plenty of evidence in the air of what had been dumping water on us a short while before.

I doubt closer shots would have been much use anyway. With the amount of moisture in the air and the warmth that was quickly coming back now that the sun was out, heat haze would have destroyed an detail with a longer lens. Going wider was probably the only option. It was certainly worth it though. The texture of the clouds after the storm was there to see and to be emphasized in the shots. The plane provides a focal point to explore the image from but is not too important itself. You can’t just do this but, from time to time, it is good to fight your normal style.

Storms Over the Front Range

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When I arrived in Pueblo Colorado, the sun was shining and it was pretty warm. After our second day of testing, the weather had turned a bit and, as we headed back to the town, there was some storm activity over the Front Range. The road you drive out on is a federal facility so stopping to take pictures is not the best plan. However, once we got back to the more populated area, I did pull over and take a few shots. That night, there were some serious storms around us. I saw a few over the mountains as we drove but nothing too dramatic.

Sunset Over the Central Valley

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While out shooting the aircraft in the evening at Eagle Field, I also got to enjoy quite a nice sunset. The sky was turning a variety of lovely colors and, once the sun had dropped below the horizon, things really did light up nicely. Whether focusing in on a distinct part of the sky or going for the wider scene, it was a nice place to be for a while.

Humid Approaches to SFO

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Moisture in the air is not always what you want when you are out shooting aircraft. However, it does have its benefits if there isn’t so much of it that everything is either obscured or gray. The weather conditions over San Francisco Bay can be very localized and, as the planes come down final approach, they can go through quite a variety. I was out hunting for Air Force One a while back and I got some good examples of this.

The weather at SFO was actually quite nice (although not when Air Force one departed as I have previously written about). The sun was out and the sky was pretty clear. In fact, there was quite a troubling amount of heat haze. However, once you got towards the south end of the bay, there was pretty solid cloud cover. The planes coming in were in full IMC for a good portion of their approach. Somewhere in the region between Coyote Point and the San Mateo Bridge they would break out of the cloud cover. Then, for the next mile or so, they were in the clear but still in very humid conditions.

The result of this humidity was a lot of vapor forming up over the wings. The low speed and high lift configuration made the wings a good place to get cloud formations as the moist air passed over them. Additionally, the trailing vortices were showing up well as a result of the condensing moisture in them too. For quite a while, each aircraft showed similar patterns as it descended. The widebodies seemed to be better for showing this but that might just be a function of them being easier to see further away when the effect was most pronounced. The closer they got to the field, the less the effect until it was pretty much gone when they were on final approach.

Storm Over Evanston

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I was flying cross country and my layover was in Chicago at Midway. I had deliberately chosen a window seat on the right side of the plane in case we carried out the approach from the lake in order to have a view of the city. Sure enough, we did approach from that direction. As we headed out to the lake, I could see some showers over the water. At the time, I thought they would not show up well on a photo but the motion of video would make them more conspicuous. Consequently, I started filming some video on my phone.

I was focused on the screen and initially didn’t notice that the showers I was watching were a lot smaller than their neighbors! There was a big storm just north of the city. It came into view on the phone and then I gave it a bit more focus. Sadly, the phone does not always pick up the lightning bolts. However, I think you will get the idea of how big a storm it was. I know someone who was at O’Hare during the storm and they describe the effect as pretty dramatic. From my location, everything was totally smooth!

Mt Tam in the Clouds

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My friend John from Chicago was out in San Francisco for the weekend and we arranged to get together for a walk up in the hills of Marin County. We headed to Mt Tamalpais to walk the trails there. The weather was not ideal with rain and low cloud when we set off but, as we got closer, the rain eased up, even if the cloud didn’t. Even so, it meant we were going to be okay to walk. What I hadn’t counted on was that I was going to warm up a lot as we walked and the uphill element of the second half of the walk was going to mean I was a touch overdressed! I was dry though.

I left the main camera in the car rather than lug it all around. However, I did have my phone and it was good for some shots. Also, I have been playing around with Photo Sphere from Google recently. I got a sphere while down in the woods. You can see it here. https://plus.google.com/u/0/104745382077938728957/photos/photo/6089868108315918482?pid=6089868108315918482&oid=104745382077938728957

When we got back to the car, we drove along the ridge above the valley where Muir Woods is located. The clouds were beginning to break up a little and the combination of the light and the clouds still on the hills looked great. I struggle to take what I see in those situations and turn it into a photograph but hopefully this gives you some idea of what was there. The dynamic range is one thing to deal with in processing but the feel is something harder to translate.

Funky Cloud Processing

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Part of a run back into Oakland recently came across the bay but it was unfortunately covered in cloud. However, the cloud was sitting in very distinct locations with a clear edge as you headed down the bay and a similar edge near the shoreline on the Oakland side. Since we were not high above it, this looked pretty interesting. Even as I photographed it, I figured the shots would need something a bit different when I got around to processing them. Having a more contrasty look seemed the best bet and a black and white conversion also seemed likely. That is what I went with and I was quite pleased with how it turned out. See what you think.