Return to home page Main Menu Navigation

Clouds #9

Cloud patterns in black and white

Click on the image for licensing terms

The story behind this image

'Hullo clouds. Hullo sky' said Basil Forthington-Thomas.

If you're a certain age (over 50) you may remember the schoolboys' favourite book 'Back in the Jug Agane' by Geoffrey Williams and Ronald Searle.

Basil Fotherington-Thomas is a weedy wet who spends his days watching clouds go by and skipping.

Although I don't (I hope) share many characteristics with Basil, I do find watching clouds to be quite a rewarding activity, especially when it comes to taking interesting photos.

Living in North Wales there's generally no shortage of clouds to look at, and I photographed these wispy cirrus over the promenade at Llandudno.

I was attracted to this particular cloud arrangement due to the swirling patterns of dark and light, and I knew when I took the photo that a monochrome conversion would enhance that contrast and bring out the detail and texture that I wanted to emphasise.

License this image

Image data


Filename - clouds 09.jpg

Camera - Canon 5D

Lens - 24-105mm zoom @24mm

Exposure - 1/30sec @ f11, ISO100

Location - Sky above Llandudno

This image - 800x640px JPEG

Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2

Comments - Polarising filter used to darken blue sky.