Seeing Things: Cloud Shapes

Living and working or just visiting in the San Simon Valley of southern New Mexico one is confronted with a big landscape that is in constant flux.  It changes with the time of day and the time of year, since the light is always in motion.  With an increase in moisture though clouds begin to form bringing another exciting aspect to the big sky of the valley.  As I watch the cloudscapes form and shift during the day sometimes something unexpected happens.  Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a shape appears.  It registers in the brain a moment later and then the fun begins.  The first question, is the camera handy, did I bring it along while out on the estate?  If not, am I close enough to run and get the camera?  If fortunate enough to have the camera handy it is time for data collection.  Single and multiple images (for stitching) are collected then it's back to work.  Later though and once back inside the data is downloaded and it's time to start the process of making an image.  Fortunately many attempts do work out in the post production process and in the case of these recent images shown below, I was able to get enough data.  I'm fond of saying it is not the camera that makes an image it is a person and with digital cameras this is especially true.  Instead of a darkroom it's a computer where images are made. I hope you can see the same things in these images, but you never know, everyone sees the world differently.

Flying ghost over the Chiricahua Mountains, just in time for Halloween.

Portuguese man o' war jelly fish over the Peloncillo Mountains.

Flying sea turtle over Antelope Pass.