A Foreboding Early Evening Sky

[Norm Dulak]

Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 28-300mm vrII lens @ 170mm, hand held
ISO 500; f/7.1 @ 1/2,500 sec
PP: PS CS5 levels, curves & smart sharpen; DeNoise; no crop, as framed

Early in the evening yesterday, a storm system approached our area. Seeing what I thought was a most interesting cloud formation, I rushed outside with my camera. Almost immediately, rain began to fall. So I took shelter under the eves of my barn and captured this image.

Nature threw in almost everything she had to create this image -- blue sky, bright patches, medium grey areas, ominous dark regions, and the rain.

The result shown here is a stormy "skyscape" that I hope you will enjoy and comment on!

Norm

[Robert Amoruso]

Norm,

A very spectacular cloud formation. Compositionally I feel I would have preferred not have had the large diagonal dark cloud in the upper left.

Image quality wise, something is up. Besides the noticable banding in the image (in particularly the previously mentioned dark clound in the UL), darker color artifects are strewn throughout. I assume that is not the intention as you did not mention any texturing process.

Do you know what might have caused it?

[Dave Mills]

Hi Norm, agree with Robert's assessment. Is the image taken from a large crop? Otherwise not sure why you would get so many artifacts...

[Norm Dulak]

Norm,

A very spectacular cloud formation. Compositionally I feel I would have preferred not have had the large diagonal dark cloud in the upper left.

Image quality wise, something is up. Besides the noticable banding in the image (in particularly the previously mentioned dark clound in the UL), darker color artifects are strewn throughout. I assume that is not the intention as you did not mention any texturing process.

Do you know what might have caused it?

Bob.

I agree that the UL cloud is an unfortunate distraction.

And you're right about IQ, and I have no explanation for it. :e3 The camera and lens performed perfectly before the clouds were photographed, and today, when I went to the Delaware shore to photograph shore and marine birds. I chalk it up to the unusual atmospheric conditions, which changed rapidly and drastically. There was heavy rain, but I can only assume that other events I don't understand must have occurred at the level of the clouds.

I applied no texturing process. But whatever it was that accounted for what we see, I thought the overall image was sufficiently interesting and unusual to merit sharing with BPN.

And for Dave, the image was not cropped at all, and is exactly as originally framed!

Norm

[Norm Dulak]

Bob and Dave.

Since receiving your comments, I've done more research on the situation. The original RAW, NEF files of the clouds were on the SD card I used for the Delaware trip today, and I downloaded and examined them again. And all of the things you've mentioned are in the original NEF file that I used and in the other NEF files of the clouds. So what you see in the op is not a product of the very modest adjustments I made in Photoshop.

I apologize for any consternation my image may have caused but believe that my camera accurately captured the scene that nature presented to me.

FYI, I've attached an entirely unmodified copy of the original NEF file. The "artifacts" are all present in that RAW file. If there is a difference, I would attribute it to sharpening in PS, which may have accentuated any irregularities.

But I truly appreciate your comments and thoughtful analyses!

Norm

[dankearl]

A dramatic sky, but it looks like something is wrong with your sensor or something.
The repost, while better than the op, is grainy and unusual looking. It just looks like something went wrong.

[Norm Dulak]

A dramatic sky, but it looks like something is wrong with your sensor or something.
The repost, while better than the op, is grainy and unusual looking. It just looks like something went wrong.

I agree there is something weird here, although as I explained above I have no explanation! :e3 It wasn't due to the sensor though. Here's a link to an image I posted in another forum, using the same camera and lens, and the same SD card (which still contained the clouds RAW file): http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/84221-Laughing-Gulls?p=671993#post671993. This image was captured yesterday.

I'm afraid the mystery of the cloud image will have to remain unsolved. But if anyone has a possible explanation, please let me know! :cheers:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Norm, you say there was a heavy rain. Aren't the scattered specks just all raindrops?

[Norm Dulak]

Hi Norm, you say there was a heavy rain. Aren't the scattered specks just all raindrops?

Hi Jerry. Thanks. I think that's possible.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Norm,
I'm not sure that could be rain at that SS.......although I too have no idea why, at that ISO, it appears as almost dust on the sensor? It could be dust that was kicked up and the camera picked it up??? This one is a mystery to me..... although sharpening would definitely explain the difference from the OP to the repost......it is clearly evident on the raw capture.
As for the Image.....I think that comp wise I like the boldness of the gathering thunder clouds but like Robert would prefer if the UL band wasn't present....although I see no way to avoid it.

We had some really dramatic storms ourselves that day......so glad to see you went out and at least tried to capture some of their glory!

[Norm Dulak]

Hey Norm,
I'm not sure that could be rain at that SS.......although I too have no idea why, at that ISO, it appears as almost dust on the sensor? It could be dust that was kicked up and the camera picked it up??? This one is a mystery to me..... although sharpening would definitely explain the difference from the OP to the repost......it is clearly evident on the raw capture.
As for the Image.....I think that comp wise I like the boldness of the gathering thunder clouds but like Robert would prefer if the UL band wasn't present....although I see no way to avoid it.

We had some really dramatic storms ourselves that day......so glad to see you went out and at least tried to capture some of their glory!

Thanks Roman. I always appreciate your input.

But the only thing further that I can add is that the same lens was kept on the camera for a number of days before and after the clouds were photographed. And very clean images were captured before and after the cloud photo. So I'm not certain how anything could have gotten on the sensor.

Moreover, immediately after the cloud images were captured, there was no rain or other material on the lens itself. :cheers:

Norm