Windows Through The Cloud

The weather, mood, and light was all amazing through the day. Clouds high in the sky, mist rolling through the trees, over the valleys. I shot quite a few scenes in more appropriate light, but after stopping here I decided I wanted to see what I could do as the light faded, and the mist rolled into the valley, dense, heavy…. wet. I’m no stranger to getting wet on the quest for a shot, rain or shine we photographers go for it. As we slipped into blue hour the clouds dropped, the light faded, and I popped a 6 stop ND filter in, and began shooting long exposures. This is my result.

Not every landscape shot needs to be sharp, nor clean. Sometimes you can lean on the haze and fog to create a more dynamic composition, where before the shot was unclear. Allow the elements to guide you. In this scene the clouds were slowly rolling over the mountains, and so after a few quick test shots to get the appropriate amount of movement without loosing much light, I found my shot. It is a bit odd, perhaps a bit of color cast, but I found the clouds to be interesting, foreboding. While you may want to avoid some filters, a few Neutral Density filters may be what you need to take your shots to another level.

Blue hour is a lovely time of day if you have the right level of diffused light in the shot, while this image looks like the light is totally gone, the clouds were wispy enough to give me a bit of leeway. Every scene is a bit different, so use your discretion once you’re on the scene. Work through the settings, but don’t take to long! This light you’ve come across wont last. While sunset has the light almost building to a crescendo, blue hour is the true fade.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f16
ISO: 160
SS: 40secs
Focal: 50mm

Fujinon 50-140mm