Unusual to be able to photograph however. Normally the sky is so much brighter than the ground, that when you photograph one of those elements will be severely over/under exposed in order to capture the other. In your case a beam of sunlight brought the ground brightness up so that such a photo could be made.
The Scottish National Gallery had a lovely exhibition on Constable’s clouds last time I was there. He was the first painter to have access to a scientific classification of cloud types, which encouraged him to look with more attention – contrary to Keats’ facile anti-scientific strictures (“We had a rainbow once ..” ). Constable used to sketch clouds in the open, with oils. Meteorologists have worked out how long he took over the sketches, about one hour.
I heard a story that early in his career a critic said that Constable’s clouds didn’t look real, so Constable embarked on a program of going outside and painting clouds as much as he could, to the point of getting a bit obsessive about clouds. So now we know Constable as the painter who was really good at clouds. I’m not sure if it’s a true story.
I like the photo. As Omega Centauri says, it’s hard to get a balance between the light levels in a shot of this kind.
It’s beautiful but also very much like the terrain just a few miles from me here in Wisconsin right down to the rolled hay bales.
Same geology: heavy glacial influence.
[my cousin grew up in Dorset and has geology training; he said that the question of how the welsh bluestones were shifted to stonehenge was easy, they were moved by glaciers. But how did they control the glaciers?, I asked]
{ 15 comments }
Dr. Hilarius 08.28.16 at 6:52 pm
Lovely. thank you
Jeff Ryan 08.28.16 at 10:19 pm
Marvelous light. England seems to get a lot of this kind of contrast.
Cheers!
rea 08.28.16 at 10:27 pm
In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire
Hurricanes hardly ever happen.
Alan White 08.28.16 at 10:51 pm
It’s beautiful but also very much like the terrain just a few miles from me here in Wisconsin right down to the rolled hay bales.
Omega Centauri 08.29.16 at 1:09 am
Unusual to be able to photograph however. Normally the sky is so much brighter than the ground, that when you photograph one of those elements will be severely over/under exposed in order to capture the other. In your case a beam of sunlight brought the ground brightness up so that such a photo could be made.
Barry 08.29.16 at 12:04 pm
Looks like they got the hay in just in time.
A nice photo.
James Wimberley 08.29.16 at 1:20 pm
The Scottish National Gallery had a lovely exhibition on Constable’s clouds last time I was there. He was the first painter to have access to a scientific classification of cloud types, which encouraged him to look with more attention – contrary to Keats’ facile anti-scientific strictures (“We had a rainbow once ..” ). Constable used to sketch clouds in the open, with oils. Meteorologists have worked out how long he took over the sketches, about one hour.
Ingrid Robeyns 08.29.16 at 8:40 pm
Stunning!
someguy88 08.30.16 at 3:11 am
Another great picture.
flubber 08.30.16 at 7:53 am
Really beautiful.
maidhc 08.31.16 at 6:56 am
I heard a story that early in his career a critic said that Constable’s clouds didn’t look real, so Constable embarked on a program of going outside and painting clouds as much as he could, to the point of getting a bit obsessive about clouds. So now we know Constable as the painter who was really good at clouds. I’m not sure if it’s a true story.
I like the photo. As Omega Centauri says, it’s hard to get a balance between the light levels in a shot of this kind.
Peter Waksman 09.02.16 at 6:13 pm
Beautiful photo – with real feeling. Well done!
Bernard Yomtov 09.04.16 at 1:25 am
Very nice, Chris.
Collin Street 09.04.16 at 1:58 am
It’s beautiful but also very much like the terrain just a few miles from me here in Wisconsin right down to the rolled hay bales.
Same geology: heavy glacial influence.
[my cousin grew up in Dorset and has geology training; he said that the question of how the welsh bluestones were shifted to stonehenge was easy, they were moved by glaciers. But how did they control the glaciers?, I asked]
Alan White 09.04.16 at 2:08 am
CS: Indeed! Wisconsin is a glacier lab in geology as my dear departed colleague Catherine Helgeland taught me over so many years.
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