Uses for Smoke Cloud Photos

On August 12, 2009 I took many photos of the smoke clouds at the West end of the Antelope Valley. The setting sun differentially lit the layers and billows of smoke presenting a colorful display of lines, swirls, and shapes. Here are some of those photos and what I think I might do with them.

First, a sample of my as-shot photos:

These were all shot with my Canon Rebel XT and Sigma 170 to 500 zoom lens. However, since clouds don't get scared easily I could have gotten these with my kit lens or even Julia's Point and Shoot (P&S) by driving West for 10-15 minutes. "Remember, the best zoom lens is your feet."

Here's a sample of what can be done with these photos:

Create a background with cropping and color manipulation
Add a runner to the right edge of the smoke and you have a runner who's "smokin'"
A 45 degree rotation, crop, and gaussian blur and you have another background
Simply rotate 90 degrees for another kind of background
Crop for abstract art
Or even create your own version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream"

Compare the above to one of the free backgrounds from Canon.

The more I look around me the more I find worth photographing.

This page first written: August 15, 2009
This page last updated: August 15, 2009
This page written by: Glenn Olson (glenn@glenn-olson.com)