1-25-12- Extra Storm Images
Very strong storms in The Woodlands, TX area this morning (close to Houston). My morning meetings were delayed because of the threat of severe weather. Checking the radar and the conditions outside, it looked like I had about 30 minutes before it hit. I set up my camera facing the storm and started capturing images. The wind picked up, temperature dropped immediately and mammatus clouds began to form. That is a sure sign of a powerful storm. It is a little scary being out there, but I love it. I have been doing this long enough that I feel I can read the situation pretty well. I posted my favorite on my Clouds 365 project site 1-25-12. I had a hard time choosing. Any of these could have been picked, so I wanted to share them with you. Hope you like. Would love to hear what you think.
1-16-12 – Sunset Extra Images
Beautiful sunset in Frisco, Texas last night. I think it is amazing how many shots you can take in a 30 minute period. I posted my favorite last night, 1-16-12. Here are 5 extras I could have easily picked to feature. It was overcast for most of the day, then the sun the sun peeked out and turned the clouds yellow. Shortly after, the sky was every color imaginable. What a beautiful sight! Hope you like these. Please click on the images below to enlarge!
November 2011 Extra Images
I finally had a chance this morning to go through all of the images I took in November to organize, backup and archive. In the process, I picked out 15 extra images that I did not use for one of my daily posts on Clouds 365 Project – Year 3. It was a beautiful month for clouds. Hope you enjoy these extra images from last month. CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW TO ENLARGE Let me know what you think
October 2011 Extra Images
It took me 3 hours to go through all of the images for October to select a few images I did not use for Year 3. I ended up with 16 extra image to share. October was interesting, because it had a little bit of everything – fog, sun dog (from the air), colorful sunsets, trip to Boston and the need to be really creative (October usually is the month where there are a few days with no clouds. Happened 4 times).
Here are the extra images. Hope you like them, let me know what you think. CLICK on images below to enlarge
September 2011 Extra Images
At the end of every month, I take some time to go through all of the images to organize, tag, see if there were patterns, etc… It is also fun to go back and revisit shots that you have not seen in a while. My impression of September is that is was hard. I was very busy outside of this project. I had to get up early for sunrise quite a bit and fight through bedtime (kids) to get sunset shots and post. I had to work to get set up everyday to get the “right shot”. It is apparent that I am shooting more and getting more selective in what I choose on a daily basis. My expectations are definitely rising. I picked out 15 shots that I could have posted on the Year 3 site and chose not to for one reason or another. I thought they needed to be shared. I hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think. CLICK THUMBNAILS TO ENLARGE
9-18-11 Lightning Storm | Frisco, TX
A storm blew through Frisco, TX on Sunday night that produced the unusual pink and purple clouds at sunset and the longest lightning show I have ever seen. It lasted for almost 2 hours. I set up outside a field with a clear view of the east. Lightning was flashing every second it seemed, all kinds… spread, cloud to cloud, to ground. I started rolling video. The above video is real time raw footage. Just amazing.
I posted one lightning from last night on the Year 3 site. Below are 2 extra lightning images from this incredible night. These were the best. Click to enlarge, I hope you enjoy!
5-24-11 – Extra Lightning Images
Another strong storm moved in to the Frisco / North Texas area last night around 8:30pm CT. It was quite scary for a while because if the tornado sirens going off and the ominous presence of the storm. I hope everyone is OK!! Once it had passed, lightning was still flashing every few seconds, so I decided to go out and capture it again.
Using bulb mode on my Canon 5D Mark II and a remote trigger, I set my Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II lens to f/7 iso 100. In bulb mode you hold down the trigger for as long as you like and that leaves the shutter open until you let go. With the lightning flashing often and with various intensity, this is the best way. I used the strategy of holding the trigger for 4 seconds and move on. If lightning flashed early I let go. I captured 27 images with lightning in it. I would have got more, but it was getting to close.
Here are 16 extra images, un-edited, so you can see the various colors, exposure and of course the lightning. Hope you like! CLICK THUMBNAILS TO ENLARGE
Storm, Rainbows, Mammatus Clouds and Sunset
Below are 10 extra images from Friday, 5-20-11. Incredible weather day!
Incoming storm | Frisco, TX | 5-20-11
I started tracking a incoming front using my handy iPhone app, Radar Scope around 3pm. I set my camera up in a field with a clear view and watched the shelf cloud forming above. Here is the image that I posted. 2 extras from the storm coming in are below. It went on to rain about 3-4″ in a matter of 20 mins with strong winds and a little hail. It continued to rain and stayed overcast until 7:30pm. Like the storm that hit us on 5-11-11, it cleared up at sunset producing a rainbow and a glorious sunset.
I originally went out to try to photograph lightning. After several attempts and feeling like it was a little to close and getting dangerous, I started to drive home. On the way back the sun started to come out and then I noticed a double rainbow off to the east. I even witnessed lightning that looked like it was coming from the rainbow! When I was shooting the rainbow, I looked behind me and mammatus clouds started to appear. They lasted about 30 mins, all the way through sunset. I was so excited to get one of my favorites that night – 5-20-11- Part 3 – Mammatus Clouds at Sunset.
Below are 10 extra images. I hope you enjoy! let me know what you think 
CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO ENLARGE!
Sunset After Storm in Frisco – 5-11-11
Yesterday was a very special day for cloud photography in Frisco, Texas. I took over a hundred images. Posted 3 on the Clouds 365 Project site. Around 3pm, a huge storm hit. I barely had a chance to go outside and get a shot of the cumulonimbus with mammatus clouds above, here it is: 5-11-11
It continued to rain the rest of the afternoon until about 7pm. Looking outside, I noticed mammatus clouds again from the tail end of the front. The sun started to peek out slightly, giving a eerie glow. I rushed out to one of my favorite areas to set up for sunset. Wow! Within minutes the sun had completely come out to reveal a full rainbow- posted this one: http://www.clouds365.com/year2/5-11-11-part-2. Then one of the brightest orange sky I have ever seen. Gave me chills! Looking at my shots after I took a few, I thought there was something wrong with my camera because it looked sepia. Here was the final one I posted: http://www.clouds365.com/year2/5-11-11-part-3 - At the same time, I was getting emails and text messages from friends and family making sure I was seeing this. It really was a amazing experience. This is why I do this project.
Here are 6 extra images in order from when I arrived at my spot from 7:30pm to 8:15pm CT – Hope you enjoy them.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
Extra Storm Images, Frisco TX – 4-25-11
I posted 2 images from our incredible storm that blew though Frisco, TX yesterday. One I believed to be a tornado forming on the front edge of the wall cloud http://www.clouds365.com/year2/4-25-11 and in the middle of the storm, a very powerful Cumulonimbus wall cloud http://www.clouds365.com/year2/4-25-11-part-2. I watched the incoming wall cloud rotating and pick up speed as it approached. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees in only seconds and it started to rain large raindrops when I took the sequence below, right after I witnessed the funnel cloud. You can see remnants of it in the first 2 images. I wish now I would have filmed or shot a time lapse. This progression only took a couple of mins. I had to get out of there!
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
1-12-11 – Extra Sunrise Images
Shot out of bed at sunrise this morning when I was told the sky was pink. It was 18˚ this morning in Frisco, TX. I spent 15 mins freezing waiting on the perfect shot. I am really happy with the I chose for today (click to view: 1-12-11). I shot 30 images of the sunrise. It was hard to choose. I thought you might like to see more. Here are 4 shots that I liked. Hope you do to!
Thanksgiving Week – Disney World and Clearwater, FL
Spent a amazing week with my family at Disney World in Florida for Thanksgiving. We took a break and drove to Clearwater Beach to see a friend. It was a easy 1 and a half hour drive. It has taken me 2 days to go through the 3000+ images that were taken of family and clouds. Most everyday, the clouds in Florida were amazing. If you have not had a chance to see the images posted during this week on the my project site, check out: http://www.clouds365.com/year2/tag/florida – The most difficult part of the trip was getting back to the hotel in time to post a image before midnight everyday!
Here are 10 extra images from our Florida trip to Disney World and Clearwater Beach, I hope you enjoy them. Let me know what you think!
UPDATE**
Thanksgiving Week Crowds – After posing this, a lot of people have contacted me to ask about crowds. This was our first trip as a family to the park, so I don’t really have a good comparison for the rest of the year. It was busy. We were a hour early to everything to get our spot, you had too. We learned quickly to get fast passes to rides, so we could walk right in a couple of hours later. We stood in lots of lines and waded through a sea of strollers. The biggest mistake we made was not having a reservation to a restaurant when we visited Epcot’s World Showcase. Luckily, Japan fit us in
Now for the positive. It was a magical time to be there. Disney World was already decorated for Christmas, and it felt like it. Did not take long to get into the spirit. They lit the castle with millions of twinkle lights at dusk, which still give me goose bumps thinking about it. Our kids had a blast. It was the PERFECT first time. I would definitely go again on Thanksgiving!
10-23-10 – Sunset
It had been storming all day Saturday (10-23-10) with high winds, tornado sirens and heavy rain. Around 6:20 we noticed the sun was coming out. I could see the low stratus clouds moving out, very fast and they were starting to glow from the sun. Did not take me long to go get into my car and go to a open area to capture this moment! 10 mins later, I was out in a field photographing the wonderful sunset. I posted 2 images from that evening on the project site (10-23-10-Part2 and 10-23-10-Part3). Here are another 6 images that I did not post, but had to share! These are in order:
More Lightning – 9-11-10
Received a text from one of my friends last night telling me to “go outside and look south at the storm coming, there is lightning” Sure enough, there was a huge cumulonimbus cloud towering close to us in Frisco, TX with lightning about every 10 seconds. I set up my Canon 5D Mark II with these settings – f2.8, ISO 100, on bulb mode using a remote trigger. I was sure to focus on infinity. I used these settings because the lightning was bright. Bulb mode allows me to physically hold the shutter open until I see a lightning flash, then I let go, hopefully getting the shot. I took about 30 images. Posted my favorite last night - 9-11-10-Part 2. Looking through them again today, I thought I should post this sequence. The lightning shot going upward is my favorite! CLICK TO ENLARGE!
More From Enchanted Rock – 9-05-10
This past weekend, (Labor Day, US) my family and I decided to go to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, in between Llano and Fredericksburg, TX to go hiking. This really was exciting because of the possibilities to get a good cloud shot for the day. The clouds and the scenery did not disappoint!
It was difficult to choose the cloud image for the day (9-05-10) because I had narrowed it down to 9.. yes 9!, good thing my wife helped me or I would have never chose! How did I choose? There were other images I liked a little better for one reason or another, but in the end it always has to be about the clouds.
The images below were great candidates. I am glad to share with you 8 extra images from that amazing day. Hopefully you will get how magical Enchanted Rock is and what a great cloud day we had! Let me know what you think. CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE
Extra Images – 8-18 to 9-01
At the end of every month, I go through my images and organize them, and keywords and pick selects I may want to use in the future… say for a book Here are a few images from the last couple of weeks that I like, but did not use on the main site. Hope you like them!
Texas to Wyoming and Back – Extra Images
My family and I took off for Jackson Hole, Wyoming almost 2 weeks ago. Starting off in Texas, we drove though Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and back… 3000+ miles. Lots and lots of images taken over the 10 days we were there and back. SO MUCH FUN! I posted 11 images over the 10 days and tagged them “Vacation” (click to check out). Below are the 10 selects I did not post, but I thought deserved to be posted here on the blog. I hope you enjoy the extra images
Vegas to the Grand Canyon and Back
Recently, my wife and I were in Las Vegas. We decided, after much debate to book a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon for our own enjoyment and to hopefully get a cloud shot for the day. Those of you who follow the project know that I did – http://www.clouds365.com/6-12-10 – What a day and experience that was. Perfect weather, perfect clouds and SO happy that I “got the shot”, probably the best one of the entire year!
After going through the hundreds of photographs, I decided to post 8 additional images I liked the best starting and ending in Las Vegas. I hope you enjoy these. I loved capturing them!
Something a little different – 5-04-10
I flew from Dallas to San Francisco today. I always have my camera out when I fly trying new things, especially after I know I have my shot for the day. This series was shot with a ND-4 filter and using a custom setting I set up on the camera (Canon 5D Mark II) to shoot Black and White. The clouds are ground were perfect for this. Thought I would share a few with you.
More from Boston – 4-05-10
Was organizing images after my latest trip to Boston and decided to post these four images. They were selects on April 5, but were not chosen. I thought someone might like to see them
3-24-10 – Extra Storm Images
Driving up the Dallas North Tollway on my way home for the night, I noticed a wall cloud starting to build off in the distance. As I got closer to the storm, I knew I had to get off and pick a spot because I had to get the shot! It had started to rain, there was lightning everywhere. It was spooky for sure. I managed to take 30-40 images, all different exposures. I was praying I got something because I could not look at the preview. I was really happy when I started going through these. It was hard to choose. I posted this one (3-24-10-part-2). I had 5 selects that I liked. I had to share the other 4 images I did not post.
Snow Day in Frisco, Texas
A foot of snow in Frisco, Texas (Suburb of Dallas) is unheard of. First time it has happened. Trees down, power out in some places, it is a mess around here. I know parts of the East coast was hit bad, but this is unbelievable for us. I had a hard time choosing the image for the day, because I liked them all. I ultimately chose 2-12-10 because it had a little more cloud definition than the others. Thought I would show you the other selects for the day.
More From Malibu
The last 2 days are the reason why I started this blog, to post images that did not get picked as a daily image. I shot over 500 images yesterday. I was so excited to be in a new place and great clouds. I probably over did it, but it was fun. I am back in Dallas tonight, cleaning up my images from the trip. Wanted to share these 4 images.
More from 1-27-10
I had a few images left over from my day yesterday that I thought worthy to share. At meetings all day, then Malibu this evening. There might be a beach shot in my future!
Clouds 365 is a project dedicated to art, learning, determination, processes, patterns and obsession. I hope to share as much as possible about this project, extra images and tutorials.
