tornado watch

scooter2044 · Jun 8, 2015

My first landscape. I couldn't resist trying to capture the storm clouds but I don't have my tripod yet so I did the best I could. C & C welcome and appreciated.

tornadowatch3 by Sheila Swindell, on Flickr

BrickHouse · Jun 8, 2015

Not bad! I love the depth to the clouds, though I think I might try to coax just a bit more foreground detail out. And like you said, a tripod and longer shutter might give you a nice effect.

Raj_55555 · Jun 8, 2015

Lovely photograph, some light editing would make it even cooler!

scooter2044 · Jun 8, 2015

BrickHouse said:
Not bad! I love the depth to the clouds, though I think I might try to coax just a bit more foreground detail out. And like you said, a tripod and longer shutter might give you a nice effect.

Thanks! My tripod should be here by tomorrow. I can't wait! I tried to bring out the foreground because it was so colorful but then I kept losing detail in the clouds. When I bumped up the exposure it got too noisy from the ISO being so high. I'm not good with Elements so I just use the basic sliders for now. Oh well, I'll try again later.

scooter2044 · Jun 8, 2015

Raj_55555 said:
Lovely photograph, some light editing would make it even cooler!

Thanks. My editing skills are about nonexistent, but you're welcome to give it a go. Can't wait for my tripod!

Raj_55555 · Jun 8, 2015

scooter2044 said:
Raj_55555 said:

Lovely photograph, some light editing would make it even cooler!

Click to expand...

Thanks. My editing skills are about nonexistent, but you're welcome to give it a go. Can't wait for my tripod!

My apologies if I went overboard with the processing, I just did a quick edit and this felt right. It was a beautiful capture. Hope you get your tripod soon!

scooter2044 · Jun 8, 2015

Raj_55555 said:
scooter2044 said:

Raj_55555 said:

Lovely photograph, some light editing would make it even cooler!

Click to expand...

Thanks. My editing skills are about nonexistent, but you're welcome to give it a go. Can't wait for my tripod!

Click to expand...

View attachment 102990
My apologies if I went overboard with the processing, I just did a quick edit and this felt right. It was a beautiful capture. Hope you get your tripod soon!

Like the b/w. It looks even more ominous, like something from the Wizard of Oz. My tripod is supposed to be delivered tomorrow.

FanBoy · Jun 9, 2015

I was also fascinated by the same storm clouds here near Reading, Pennsylvania yesterday. It's something even Hollywood can't reproduce.

BillM · Jun 9, 2015

What about something like this, a gradient filter from the bottom up to add some detail to the foreground and another gradient from the top down to add contrast to the clouds. Then clarity for the entire scene and just a little luminance and bump up the shadows.

scooter2044 · Jun 9, 2015

FanBoy said:
I was also fascinated by the same storm clouds here near Reading, Pennsylvania yesterday. It's something even Hollywood can't reproduce.

I'm in York, Pa. Must have been the same system. It was incredible! Luckily I got to get some pictures without getting the worst of the storm. The worst part just missed us, and we just got the back half.

scooter2044 · Jun 9, 2015

BillM said:
What about something like this, a gradient filter from the bottom up to add some detail to the foreground and another gradient from the top down to add contrast to the clouds. Then clarity for the entire scene and just a little luminance and bump up the shadows.

View attachment 103026

LOL, I don't know how to do that yet but it looks great. I'm still working on getting good pictures with my camera. Learning more editing will have to wait I guess. I will say it was much darker than that when the storm went through. I've never seen anything like it.