Michael Doran sent in this photo, taken while driving to work recently. Michael explains…
I shot this on the way to the office this morning using a Nikon S6300 Coolpix. I know there are a plethora of amazing sky photos out there-I may even have a few-but I couldn’t resist sharing this with you since I just shot it this morning. I hope you can appreciate the grandeur of it all. Clouds are to me like strokes of God’s paintbrush across an unlimited canvas. To me, the sky is an ever-changing panorama full of drama. Since I am an opportunistic photographer, I stop and shoot when I see something I like, as was the case with this sunrise.
I asked Michael to tell us a little about his shooting modes and post processing.
You may find the following rather boring, but I usually shoot the Coolpix on the auto mode so I am not sure about the settings since I let the camera adjust everything, but the view!
As far as touch up is concerned, all I use when at the office is the Microsoft Office 2010 basic photo editing program (it is basic). All I did for both pics is darken a smidgen and then contrasted very little to make the photo more crisp looking. In reality, I didn’t need to do anything because the likeness is very close to the base photos. I have attached another sky photo I just took of a blue sky saturated with puffy white clouds. Again, I let the camera do the work. To brighten this photo, I hit the auto correct feature and ended up with vibrant colors. Voila! I apologize for my rather pedestrian photography editing. What I have learned over the past few years (and I have much more to learn) is that when I have a good subject or image to shoot, along with the right lighting, I don’t need to do much editing. I also know that if I were more adept at editing, I would achieve a better end result. As you know, it is a process, and the process requires time and effort.
Nice work Michael, and no need to apologize. As we’ve said here many times, it’s not the gear, it’s the photographer. Keep shooting and looking skyward! Thanks Michael.
See more of Michael’s photography at mdoran.com.
2 Guys Photo 
Lovely. I posted a shot of the Letchworth upper falls the other day with this comment:
The photographs of these falls number, I am certain, in the millions, taken by kids with their first camera and by seasoned professionals, with every camera known to man or woman.
It takes some chutzpah to add one more to the collection. Such is life.
Thanks Ed for sharing my photos and comments, and for your kindness. Also, thanks to those who “like” this post, and to Steven for your expert and wise insights.
No two sky photos look the same in my opinion, which is why these are wonderful photos to share. And NO editing is quite a feat in itself. Nicley done.
Thanks Rodney, and I couldn’t agree more about the sky always presenting a fresh image.