RESULTS - Mini Challenge #365 - Clouds, clouds, and more clouds

bfluegie

Thank you everyone for your patience with me. There are so many great cloud photos here that I’ve had a little problem deciding on favorites. But, as always, it must be done so here goes. First, my favorite from each participant. I always think this part is fun when I enter, and I find it helps me organize my thoughts toward final results. As usual, my ranking is mostly about how the theme is followed and how the photo strikes me. Totally subjective in other words.

Jo, @Cavalier, I really liked all three of yours. Nothing against Yellowstone and Yosemite, but I’m going with your first photo, Threatening Cloud over the Pacific. The mood of that photo is just totally ominous, and I liked the way the kind of oval shape of the cloud on the right complemented the pattern of the birds on the left. The lenticular cloud almost snuck ahead of it, though.

@grandmaR, the sunset sky behind the boat has so much detail it almost looks painted. The colors are just wonderful. But I think my favorite is Leaving Sydney. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something almost otherworldly about the clouds and the silhouetted skyline.

Jeff @jwear, you might need wings and flaps on your car to follow those directions… cool shot, though.

Sherry @slpollett, it was really tough to pick out a favorite between the Cadillac Mountain sunrise and the Vermillion Cliffs. In the end though, I think that the appeal of the Vermillion Cliffs is also in great part due to the rock formation itself and the green in the foreground. So, my favorite is Cadillac Mountain since the amazing color and clouds rule that photo.

Kate @kdotaylor, I really like all three of your entries. The contrasting, saturated colors in the first are really great. But my favorite is the last one, Rural Iowa. The simple composition and the soft warm colors near the horizon are really nice. And the clouds almost look like a sponge painting. I want to lay down in the grass and pick out different shapes like I did when I was a kid.

Shawn @shawnc, this was another hard one. Again, I like all three of your entries. Each one is different but still lovely. The sweeping shape of the clouds and the soft, warm quality of the light in Sea Side, Oregon really appeals to me, so that’s my favorite.

Sara @sarasphotos, another great set. The clouds over the Alps are pretty ominous, and I really like the clouds right on the water in Rovinj, Croatia. The soft sunset colors are really nice. But, I really like January Sunrise at home. I think I’ve said before I envy your view, and although I’m not an early riser having a show like that in the morning just might tempt me to change.

Gretchen @sapphire73, my favorite of your photos is actually the non-entry. I won’t include it in my consideration but I wanted to say that. While I like the detail in the B&W cloud photo, Morning Clouds over Ocean City, and the way a haziness comes into Clouds above Sanibel Island on the right, I really like Autumn Day in Pennypack Watershed Preserve. I know there must be some vicious wins at high altitudes to give the clouds that feathery appearance, but the overall impression is gentle—at least at ground level.

OK, now for the (even) harder part.
Honorable Mentions to:
@grandmaR Leaving Sydney
@Cavalier Threatening Cloud over the Pacific

3rd Place: @kdotaylor Rural Iowa. So peaceful, and such interesting clouds.

2nd Place: @shawnc Sea Side Oregon. I feel swept into this image by the shape of the clouds and the way the light varies from left to right.

1st Place: @slpollett Sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine. My mouth is still hanging open from the dramatic colors and the detail in the clouds.

Thank you everyone for providing such a difficult challenge. And thanks for being patient with my tardiness in finishing up. Sherry, the next challenge is yours.

And apologies for not including the actual photos in this post. I put the links in but for some reason the photos are not showing up. In the interest of finally getting the results out I posted it anyway. I seem to have lost some critical bit of knowledge. Obviously I'm not capturing the links from the challenge thread correctly... Sorry.

slpollett

Wowza! There were so many wonderful cloud photos entered that I never expected any of my pics to win this mini!! Thank you so much. Congrats to the HM's and @kdotaylor and @shawnc for 3rd and 2nd. Your images are all wonderful.

I feel very fortunate to have seen that beautiful sunrise from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia. We were lucky to get the permit and then we were blessed with an absolutely beautiful sunrise. My photos (this one and the others I took) simply do not compare to the real thing. Hubs grumbled about my daughter and I dragging him out so early, but even he gushed about how beautiful it was and that he was glad we made him get up for it.

I'll try to get the next mini posted in the next day or so. I have to come up with a topic that I hope will be as much fun as this one.

Sherry P.

sarasphotos

Congratulations to all of the winners and to Barbara for the fun mini. Kudos to all for the great photos!

Cavalier

Great mini and great outcome. Congrats to the winners and everyone for such spectacular shots

grandmaR

Thank you for running such an interesting mini, and thank you for the HM. I don't know why I like that photo either, but I do. All of the other entries were great and it was fun to try to figure out what I would have picked - I don't think you could have picked any better

shawnc

Congrats to the winners and everyone for such wonderful images. I certainly enjoyed this challenge.

sapphire73

@bfluegie Barbara, thank you for running such a great mini and giving feedback to everyone. And congratulations to @slpollett, @shawnc and @kdotaylor on your great photos that won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and @grandmaR and @Cavalier for the HMs! Such a wonderful array of photos!

I enjoyed going into my photos and selecting a few to process for this challenge. I knew that they couldn't compare to that stunning sunset that I photographed over Captiva but it was fun to look for some other "big sky" moments that I've captured over the years. Having grown up in the midwest, it was an adjustment to move to hilly Pennsylvania and live in a wooded area where I have to run or drive somewhere to see more than snippet of the sunset! As for the "Autumn Day in the Pennypack" photo, I saw those interesting clouds in the sky while buying groceries and hurried to collect my camera and get to a hilltop vantage point before dusk. The clouds were so unusual!

kdotaylor

Thank you for this wonderful mini with the beautiful cloud images! And congrats to the winners!