I was looking for a subject for the weather challenge this morning. A few hours before it had rained and because of that the ground was still cooling down, forming again more and more clouds (so we might expect rain here this afternoon again :-)). At this particular moment the sun went behind a cloud and gave this fantastic sight.
The thing I dislike most in this picture is the amount of noise (I think this is because of the limitations of the CCD in my camera). I tried to remove the noise by applying Dust&Speckles but that resulted in an unacceptable loss of details in the clouds (unfortunately spot editing is not allowed in the challenges).
For those of you who are wondering what "Na regen..." means: those words are part of a Dutch saying meaning that after bad times always good will come: "After rain the sun will shine again".
Statistics
Place: 137 out of 226 Avg (all users): 5.1220 Avg (commenters): 6.1000 Avg (participants): 5.0148 Avg (non-participants): 5.2437 Views since voting: 1177 Votes: 254 Comments: 12 Favorites: 0
In this image, my eye is taken right to the sun peeking from behind that cloud, so your title works well (of course, if we knew Dutch, it would probably work better...). The tones and contrasts in this image are wonderful, really focusing our attention on the sun first, and then the whole of the sky. You manage to "ground" your image with the darkness of that cloud without having to include any land. The image is quite engaging with so many different tones and contrasts. You remind us of the grandier of nature, and champion the sky as your chief artifact. with the rule of thirds applied to both the sunlight and the darkest portion of the cloud, your photo is well balanced, too, and pleasing to let the eye wander around it. Lots of drama add even more interest.
What I like most about this shot, though, is its optimism. The cloud itself is perfectly centered, giving a feeling that all is well and predictable, even in the uneven and loosely formations found in the sky.
To improve the shot, I suppose it would be nice to get rid of some of that grain/noise. I don't know if you pushed any color levels, but pushing these creates more noise, but then you wouldn't get the blue. I suppose that your communication would have been clearer had we only understood that title. I know some German, and "Na Regen..." to me means "No more rain," which isn't the same as your Dutch saying.
Many of the elements that work so well in your photo require more than a cursory glance, which is what most folks here give images (especially when there are 300 or so!). So I hope you are pleased that you were able to say such complex things with these "simple" clouds.
Potentially fantastic shot; I love your composition! Excessive grain and / or JPEG artifacts (especially in the sky) take away from the overall beauty, in my opinion.
Glaube ich nicht, aber wer weiss? Choice shot! The contrast of deep summery blue sky in the background with a big angry old rain cloud in the foreground is very effective. Good capture!
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
