Thanks Jameel - I had high hopes for these clouds when I started shooting but it turned out that the early color seen here was as good as it got before it all went gray. The patterns were wonderful while it lasted.
A beautiful photo, very well processed.. the clouds seem to rise from the distant sun and spread to the far reaches. Nice work, Alan.
Thanks Peter - I lucked out in how the clouds were positioned relative to the setting sun.
Thanks Jim - I diddled around a bit with the sky and at one point did have a deep contrast version like you suggested in the high clouds on my screen. I decided it was a bit over the top to be honest. In reality the patterns and contrast were not as pronounced to the naked eye as what I rendered above.That looks so cool Alan. I really like the look of this. But... if it was mine I would try cranking up the Dehaze a bit on it, as those clouds have a really cool pattern the way they are radiating out. Dehaze might make that more prominent. It obviously wouldn't look like what you saw with your eyes, but it could still result in a neat photo.
If there is a final answer to this general question it has escaped me for years. And the dehaze slider is possibly the hardest control to fine tune. Maybe just blame Adobe
I only rarely use the Dehaze slider in Lightroom. There are similar adjustment tools in other applications that I find easier to use - DxO calls their variant ClearView Plus in Photolab 7 along with Tonal Contrast in the Nik Collection. I find that both of those adjustment tools are easier to fine tune than Dehaze which is a bit like using a sledgehammer to fix a watch.If there is a final answer to this general question it has escaped me for years. And the dehaze slider is possibly the hardest control to fine tune. Maybe just blame Adobe
Thanks Bob - every once in a while Mother Nature rewards us for keeping up a vigil looking for neat cloud shows like this one. This example was nice in that I had no clue the clouds would look like this until I saw them on my controller screen with my drone at 380'.
Fully agree - we are creating art.Alan, your comment took me back to how I started in phottography. My sole source of information were the first three books in the 7 book series by Ansel Adams and a companion text by Minor White. Andel Adams had no limits to what he would do either in film processing or printing to get the photograph he envisioned . What matter was strictly the quality of the final print. That early learned attitude probably has warped my output forever