P#18: Storm Clouds on the Horizon
Feel the power of Mother Nature in Tony's photo of approaching storm clouds
Oftentimes when photographing storm clouds, the resulting image doesn't do the actual scenery justice. How did Tony Sweet manage to capture this amazing shot? He answered that question in detail during his 7 Photography Questions interview.
As You See It
Tony Sweet: This picture of the storm clouds was shot in the late afternoon. It was a really great storm.
I shot it during a private workshop with some people and I said, "We have to go shoot this." We got in the car and just ran out there and got this incredibly dramatic sky.
Again, there's the foreground with the bright green. All the colors are really open and nothing is blocked up. (click the image for a larger version)
This is a four-stop HDR image. That brings all the color and all the detail in.
Audri Lanford: It almost looks like a painting.
Tony Sweet: That's what you get with this particular software. It gives you the ability to create that look. This is what you're seeing when you actually shoot the picture, but it has an extra little edge to it and you're not quite sure why it looks that way. The reason is because of the HDR software.
Audri Lanford: The storm clouds are truly spectacular.
Tony Sweet: Absolutely. The clouds called the shot on this one.
Audri Lanford: Did the storm clouds look like that when you were actually there, or is this a lot more detail than you could see?
Tony Sweet: Somewhere in between. It's sort of what I was looking at. I mean, this didn't come out of thin air. This is what was happening.
Audri Lanford: Right.
Tony Sweet: Normally, with photography, the camera can't see all that detail, but that's how it looked as I was looking at it. That's the beauty of HDR. You can actually create on image of what you're seeing exactly as you see it. Your image can be an exact replica of what you saw, if you process it right.
Audri Lanford: Fabulous. What kind of exposure did you use?
Tony Sweet: This image here, as I recall, is a five-shot HDR normal, two under, one under, average, one over, two over, five shot.
In Conclusion
Looking at Tony's picture, you can almost smell the rain in the air. It's not often you see such lifelike images. This picture of the storm clouds is a perfect example of how HDR photography can overcome the limitations of what your camera can (or can't) see.
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