Backyard

There were some great, low-hanging clouds in the sky this afternoon.

This epic cloud in our backyard made me stop dead in my tracks. The massive formation towered above our house like a mountain, the scale reinforced by the bush in the foreground. I tried to remember as much as I could about the colours and values, before doing this quick memory painting. The subtle warmth in the clouds from the afternoon sun is often lost in a photograph. 

Rainy Nights

Back when I was taking my driver's license we were taught that a deceptively dangerous weather situation for driving is rain combined with darkness.
Normally the eye can largely adapt to the darkness of the road, but when the streets are wet the existing light sources are multiplied as well as spread out through their reflections. As a result, a wet night scene will take on a lot more brightness and colour than a dry night.
It's actually quite surprising how bright the night can become through reflections under the presence of only a few light sources. That being said, the reflected light tends to have a blinding effect on the eye, which makes it difficult to spot detail in the dark. Hence, one of the reason extra caution is advised to drivers on rainy nights. The other being the risk of slippery roads, especially at high velocities.


Image source: GettyImages