Clouds | The Beauty Around Us

Thundercloud

Republished August 2, 2021

Thundercloud

I took this picture yesterday, early evening. While other nearby areas received rain and some people even saw a beautiful rainbow, all I saw was this cloud. I watched as this cloud grew, erupting right before my eyes, I call this a thundercloud, as thunder sounded from it…just thunder, no lightning and no rain.

In Between the Storms

Several storms rolled through Warren, PA yesterday evening. I spent much of the time outside, sitting on our picnic pavilion, while the storms rolled through. Our picnic pavilion has a metal roof. I enjoyed listening to the sound of the rain falling, although it hitting on the metal roof was almost deafening! I enjoyed the cool, refreshing breeze that came as a result of the storms too.

I took a few photographs in between the storms.

Our next-door neighbor’s Rhododendron bush.

I like how the picnic pavilion openings provide framing for the sky.

The image below is a fusion of three photographs. I placed my camera on one of the pavilion’s banisters. Using manual settings, I took one image correctly exposed. The second image was taken with an exposure value of +2; and the third image was taken with an exposure value of -2. I used f/22 for all three images and an ISO of 200 (the lowest ISO that my Olympus OM-D E-M5 is capable of. I used a program called Photomatix to fuse the three images together. I used Nik Color Efex Pro 4‘s detail extractor and tonal contrast filters to enhance the fused image.

Before the Rain

I took this picture from our backyard.
The rain fell shortly afterward.

Puffy White Clouds Set Against a Brilliant Blue Sky

As I type this, I watch the clouds move left to right across my window. The movement is hypnotizing. The sky is such a brilliant blue color. It appears to be a warm day. Looks, though, can be deceiving. The temperature is a chilly 45 degrees. I found a poem on the Internet that fits my photograph aptly.

High flying fleet of billowy boats,
Quietly cruising celestial seas.

Windblown wads in whimsical shapes,
Gracefully riding the heavenly breeze.

White-robed Bedouins bound to the sky,
Wandering aimlessly out of my view.

Would that my cares could be as the clouds,
Lifted, wafted, lost in the blue.