Save it for a Cloudy Day

When I run out of inspiration, which happens more often than I care to admit, I often go out and shoot clouds.

When I take pictures of clouds, I always shoot in both directions (vertical and horizontal). What I look for is something I can use in the background of another shot. Whether a portrait or another scenic shot; when the subject is great, but the background is blah, then the whole shot seems blah.

Some question whether or not this is ethical, using Photoshop to create the perfect image. My feeling is this . . . if I take the foreground, and I take the background, and I do the combining . . . it's still my work.

Tree Silhouette

The original colour image of this shot wasn't bad, but I feel that the black and white version is a much stronger image. To me black and white seems to work especially well with images where there is high contrast and strong graphic lines.

Most Rescent New Subject

Sometimes we get stuck in a rut and keep shooting the same thing again and again. Or worse . . . sometimes we get stuck in a rut and stop shooting all together. I have been in a town that has this "Skyfest" event every year for the last five years. I have nothing to compare it to as far as ballooning events go, because this is the first year I actually made it to the event. It was kind of cool. There were about 30 to 40 balloonist from all over, and several hundred locals attending the event. I had never shot an event like this before, but it was fun applying existing skills to a totally different subject matter. I recommend it to everyone. Not just shooting huge Balloons, but shooting anything you have never shot before. It might just surprise you, how fresh and exciting things seem all over again.