This is an experiment to see how far I could push some interesting but flat clouds. In color, they don’t have much color or texture. The shapes and textures are there, but not not at all prominent. My intention when I took this was to use black and white to try and bring out these textures to the point that the clouds looks much more ominous.
What technical/artistic feedback would you like if any?
I guess my biggest issue here is the clouds. I’m trying to find the right balance between artistic and real. I think that means finding the right level of darkness and contrast in the sky and pushing it just a bit beyond belief. This is where I needed up in my pursuit.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
This is two blended exposures. One for the mountains and the other for the sky.
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
1 Like
Tony
Your clouds don’t look so ominous to me.More dirty and not much in balance with the mountains. A little bit softer would more appeal to me. And than give me that ominous feeling. I hope this could be a bit of help.
I really like the sky, Tony, but I don’t think the mountains look right with that sky. I would darken them and get the light to fit more into what is going on above. Seems like this should be an overall dark and moody image. Sky looks great.
Tony,
The esteemed Mr. Harley wrote recently,
And I pretty much agree. B&W is already unreal and so you as the artist have full license to make the sky look however you want. Looks plausible enough, if one can call that “real.”
The question/reaction does come from the relationship to the mountains. I think that’s the challenge here. And honestly, I’m not sure which way to go - darker, or lighter? The light is diffused with no direct - which is consistent with the cloud cover.
Also, to me the sky is presented is quite dramatic, but maybe not ominous? I say because the ceiling looks pretty high and I don’t get the impression of a pending squall or something getting ready to unleash - like I would think if they were ominous.
And to come full circle, I quite like this as presented! I think the contrast in the clouds is close to the contrast in the mountains; maybe it’s the luminosity difference that’s throwing us off.
I’m afraid I haven’t been much help Tony.
Lon
I agree with this. The clouds feel like they have been overprocessed and lost their inherent luminosity. Even dark clouds have that.
I get the idea of artistic license and it’s freedom of expression. But then there’s the freedom of interpretation and whether you buy into what’s been expressed. So, it’s very subjective. Some will respond positively and some won’t. There aren’t any evident ‘mistakes’. Personally I would prefer greater luminosity in both the clouds and the mountains. I think you can still convey your message even with those changes.
