Clouds can make a challenging subject to photograph. They are never the same – always moving, always changing and they can produce some breathtaking images. Here are a few tips for capturing their drama. 1. Use a tripod. Clouds are constantly moving, but you need to keep your camera steady. Rest your camera on a [...]

If you were to travel 20 miles or so above the Earth’s surface, the sky would appear black. What happens during light’s descent to Earth that makes the sky take on a wonderful azure hue? “White” sunlight passes through our atmosphere, and molecules in the air, primarily nitrogen, are just the right size to scatter [...]

…the water droplets that make up clouds are much larger than the molecules that scatter blue light. The clouds scatter and reflect all the visible colors of light that strike them. Hence, we have white clouds. But if the cloud is thick enough, light does not penetrate completely through the cloud, resulting in dark, heavy-looking [...]

Clouds are nothing more than water vapor that condenses and accretes into a visible form. The usual mechanism is for moisture-laden air near the Earth’s surface to be raised higher into the atmosphere either by an encroaching air mass or the heat of the sun. As the air is lifted, the pressure drops and the [...]

Clouds are defined by their general appearance and level in the atmosphere. Cirrus clouds are curly or fibrous Stratus clouds are flat and/or layered Cumulus clouds are puffy and piled up. Additionally, a prefix is frequently given to the cloud name to indicate what level of the atmosphere it is in. Cirro is the prefix [...]