Cloudscapes

Recently while paging through a book on Photoshop techniques I came across several very interesting examples of cloudscape shots. By taking his original digital files and manipulating highlights and shadows via the "Levels" adjustment then applying a "High Pass" filter overlay, the photographer created a series of truly dynamic cloud images. Inspired by these photos I began to shoot cloudy skies whenever the formations caught my eye. With a number of shots in the bank I went to work with the most dramatic ones as a starting point for my own cloudscapes. Funny how after working on a project like this the subject matter becomes burned into your brain - I now find myself paying much closer attention to cloud formations that I would have simply ignored in the past. Here are a few of my initial "cloudy" experiments. The "before" image is shown first with the altered version below it.