As photographers, we appreciate a sky full of clouds, dark foreboding clouds and even a lightning strike, what we don’t like is a plain blue sky. Sometimes I enjoy the large amount of blue in my pictures. But. I admit that plain skies are not as pretty as big puffy cumulus clouds. This week, Amy challenges us to post some beautiful sky or cloudscapes.

I noticed while going through my archives, that great skies are not the norm in California. It’s a rare night that a sunset is worth photographing. If I’m lucky, I have my camera with me and I’m able to get it. Sometimes I hear people talking about that great sunset that I totally missed!

But I didn’t miss all of them. Read to the end!

Here are some random skies that I liked.

Foggy Sky
Clouds and bay framed by trees.
Donner Lake white sky and snow.
In Windsor California. Notice how the clouds match the building’s flow.
Clouds enhance a scenic lake.
The clouds behind this horse give it a glow.

Some skies are moody and dark when the sun isn’t shining.

The reflected sky enhances the dark mood.
The leading lines bring us right to the darkening sky.

Sometimes a beautiful sky is the result of post processing. The following two images were processed in NIK Color Efex.

And what would a post about skies be without a sunset. Fortunately, I was out and about for these.

Thanks Amy, I’m going to be more aware of the skies now when I photograph landscapes. I also noted as I roamed through my archives that unless I’m thinking landscape, I tend to photograph tight, eliminating the sky. Please remember to use the Lens-Artists tag and link to Amy’s post when you respond to his challenge.

I totally enjoyed seeing all the public art around the world that was posted last week. They were colorful and happy posts. Thank you John! Next week, I’m presenting the challenge so stay tuned!

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info. 

40 thoughts on “Lens Artists Challenge #250: Skyscapes or Cloudscapes”

  1. A beautiful set of cloudscape photos! A great capture of the clouds match the building’s flow. I love the scenic lake with the clouds above, breathtaking. And, the last two images, wow!!

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  5. Wonderful collection, Anne. I particularly like the reflection clouds over the lake, nice and moody, but also your edited skies, they were very interesting and they work extremely well. Obviously the sunsets are gorgeous too!

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  7. I am always on the lookout for beautiful skies at whatever time of day I happen to arrive at a location. Most of the time I am disappointed. >grin<
    Seriously, travelers on a schedule have to make do with the skies they have to work with. You have some great examples of many types of clouds well integrated into your images. Nice work, Anne!

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  8. A wonderful set of skyscapes Anne! I especially like the ones with reflections such as the ‘dark mood’ shot and the sunset with the diagonal branch (bottom left). The snowy Donner Lake one is another favourite 🙂

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  13. You definitely have a wide variety of skyscapes, Anne. Like you, sometimes I like the large blue skies. They are easy and act as a nice background. The puffy and/or stormy ones sure bring personality to the images. I love the serenity of the scenic lake and the bridge leading to the dark skies. The post editing shots were well done.

    And I guess since you don’t get lots of colorful sunsets, when you do it is truly spectacular. Wow.

    I look forward to your challenge next week. See you then…

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  17. I love all your photos, but, yes, those sunset ones are breathtaking. I lived in San Francisco from 1986 to 1990, in the Sunset District which we renamed the “Sunless” District. The fog always banked in our district 😉

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  19. Pingback: Lens-ArtistPC-250-Skyscapes-Cloudscapes – WoollyMuses

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