Sky Photography

"Sky Photography"," Well guess what? Mother Nature has a treasure trove of eye catching possibilities up, overhead if you only take the time to have a look and know what to look for.
 Obviously, a beautiful clear, deep blue sky makes for a good backdrop for many subjects but can be rather dull by itself, as can a completely gray overcast sky.


Take fair weather cirrus and stratus clouds for instance.
 Even at mid-day the sky can be gorgeous.
 It is like a mountain-canyon vista in the sky, and is easily captured compared to other faster moving, unpredictable subject matter.
 Also some clear skies around the storm can add to its magnificence and enhance your image.
 Some cameras may not do this as well as others, so manually adjusting the ISO setting may be required for best results.
 Of course those objects can work great in their own compositions, but at the moment we are concentrating on that big empty space overhead.
 Sure, clear sunrises and sunsets are nice, but by far the best is when you have high, wispy, cirrus clouds, and mid level stratus to reflect the suns beautiful and ever changing colors as it rises or sets.
 All this is most easily captured over water or a flat landscape with no obstructions.


I have found that the deepest reds and purples are from about 15-20 minutes before sunrise and after sunset, with the oranges and yellows occurring shortly before rise and set.
 I have seen large cumulus and stratus clouds light the area up like you were in a giant red, pink, or orange room, then fade away as the suns rays leaves them and hit the higher clouds.
 If not, try manually adjusting the setting to increase the cameras light sensitivity.
 This is when the sky still looks natural, not too bright or glowing, and not too dark or fuzzy.
 Low light conditions can be tricky so take your time, being careful not to overexpose.