Tag Archives: clouds

Sunset Above the Clouds

wpid6299-AU0E2512.jpgAs the spring moves closer to summer, the view on my flights home changes.  The timing is not any different but I get further east before the sun gives up and disappears.  Arriving in the light is not far off now but I am still getting to experience the sunset while airborne.  Sometimes it doesn’t appear to be very interesting.  I guess this is a function of where the clouds are relative to us.  However, one recent trip included a very nice looking sky.  Looking back across the wing, I could just make out the sun going down.

wpid6293-AU0E2505.jpgThe light on the top of the clouds looks particularly nice from above.  Sadly it is one of those events where I am disappointed that the image can’t replicate exactly how it felt to be looking out.  However, maybe it will give you a small example of how it looked or, if you have seen the same thing yourself, remind you of how nice it looks.

Natomas Evil Sky

wpid5216-AU0E0988.jpgYou are always supposed to have a camera with you so you can be ready when the shot presents itself.  Sadly, there have been far too many times when I have failed in that regard and this blog has plenty of entries describing exactly that.  However, in this case, I was actually prepared.  The view out of the office window was suddenly filled with some very ominous clouds.  This would have been good on its own but the sun was still on the shops that are next to the office.  The contrast was pretty dramatic and made the clouds look even more impressive.  We even had some birds flying through the scene that caught the light too!

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Stormy Clouds Roll In

With warm weather comes the chance of storms.  Many times I have noticed the storm as it hit us and wished I had been down on the lakeshore to see the whole thing run in and get some good lightning shots with the city skyline.  This recent occasion I was more aware of the impending deluge and managed to get half of what I was after.

I positioned myself for the storm in good time.  Ahead of it, the clouds rolled in and produced some very impressive formations.  The Midwest is great for “end of the world” skies some times!  Unfortunately, the storm never really got going with the lightning.  We got a few bolts but not very many.  The rumbling from above was unmistakeable but it didn’t produce the photo shots.  I did get one big bolt but it never got dark enough to allow some long exposures so I was always hoping to catch something.

I did leave a second camera running with the video when the clouds rolled in.  I have accelerated the speed of the video to show the clouds in a shorter clip that will hopefully be more acceptable.

Trying and Failing with Bad Weather

Every once in a while you have what you think will be a good idea and it turns out you were wrong.  This is the story of one such event.  A weekend morning was looming and I felt like getting out and shooting.  The flights from Asia are morning arrivals at O’Hare and so are not often something I shoot.  A few of them appear and that is it.  Back to the RJs and 737s so I often don’t bother.  Also, the normal arrival pattern is not great for morning light.

This time they were coming in from the west so heading in to the light.  However, the weather forecast was a bit crummy.  The traditional thought is not to go since dull skies and mainly white planes are not a great combination.  However, two things made me think otherwise.  One was the possibility of the sun breaking through and illuminating the aircraft against a dark sky background.  That can look good.  The other was the possibility of a lot of vapor in the air making for some neat vortex effects and vapor clouds over the wings.

Consequently, I decided to give it a go.  I headed out having scoped out a potential location to shoot from that would give me a view of the arriving aircraft.  I have not shot over that side much before so a good location is not something I had.  There is a lot of industrial space over there so buildings can obscure the view and the ever present power lines are another consideration.  As it turned out, the spot I chose turned out to be quite reasonable.

That is where the rest of the plan starts to go wrong.  The sun did make a brief appearance.  The opening shot is probably the only one that really achieved what I was hoping for.  After that, the cloud cover thickened up and then the skies were pretty unhelpful.  My second hope for the moisture to give some good effects proved to be a little too optimistic.  There certainly were plenty of trailing vortices and occasional puffs of cloud above the wings but the gray background did not help make them stand out.

I decided that I was probably done for the day and started to drive south on my way home.  I then happened upon a few cars parked up at a spot directly under the approach to 14R.  I thought this might be worth a look and it certainly made for some good angles.  I grabbed a few shots before heading home but this was a spot I decided was worth a further visit.  More to come on that…

Stormy Skies

While a wide swath of the Midwest was being hit by some terrible storms, the area north of Green Bay got a taster of what was going on elsewhere.  Thankfully we were spared the worst of it but there were some pretty serious thunderstorms that crashed through the area.  Elsewhere in Wisconsin some more damage was done but we were in an area that got a lot less of an effect.

As the storms approached, I saw some quite amazing cloud formations pass over our location.  The skies were really churning – not something that can be easily demonstrated with stills – but the shapes that were forming were still interesting enough to warrant some attention.

I spent a little time outside trying to record these amazing clouds with mixed results.  I also wasn’t too enthusiastic about staying outside when the storms really got going.  I didn’t have a good location to set up to try and shoot them either and besides, we had a reservation for dinner!  However, I did get a few shots and hopefully they will convey a small amount of what I saw.  If not, at least they remind me of what was happening!