Cloudy but Not Dull by taffy

Cloudy but Not Dull

I've been wanting to create something like this for ages, but it's never quite been the right sky. Yesterday the clouds were incredible, far beyond what a wide angle could capture, so I finally gave this a shot. It's combined from 15 images, each single panel is the result of three bracketed shots. Each resulting HDR image was then processed in LR and tweaked for level, contrast, etc so they could align pretty clearly in terms of tone. Then, these were exported and reimported into picmonkey to make the collage. In picmonkey, I fiddled with size and height adjustment so that they would line up horizontally to convey the humongous cloud that hung over the plains to the left of the city and the city itself. And it probably is obvious, but this will look better enlarged on black. Whew!
We head to Beaver Island tomorrow for a few days to open the house and prepare for summer, before coming back to Chicago to hopefully prepare for moving back into our house so we can maybe get back to the island for July. Feeling a bit out of control, so think that controlling photos is a bit of therapy!
What a lot of work you did to accomplish this.fantastic panorama of the city and the wonderful cloud formations.
May 29th, 2015  
Amazing collage!
May 29th, 2015  
Great panorama Taffy and beautiful work! Photography is always good therapy.
May 29th, 2015  
WOW!
May 29th, 2015  
Great collage
May 29th, 2015  
Absolutely gorgeous! Amazing clouds, composition, lighting, colors and details. FAV
May 29th, 2015  
Artistic therapy... definitely! Beautifully constructed collage. The line of the clouds is beautifully constructed downwards, from left to right. Sounds as though a lot is going on, domestically and travel-wise, too. Good luck!
May 29th, 2015  
This is so cool, Fantastic combination fav
May 29th, 2015  
wow! this looks fantastic Taffy - keep up the photo therapy or you will go mad :)
May 29th, 2015  
well done! looks amazing!
May 29th, 2015  
A Fav not only for all the work you put into this picture but for the unique view of the city and the spectacular sky over it.
May 29th, 2015  
Fierceness!:)
May 29th, 2015  
Super way to capture this image.
May 29th, 2015  
lovely capture ...
May 29th, 2015  
Fabulous cloudscape over the city :)
May 29th, 2015  
Fantastic! fav!
May 29th, 2015  
So very very impressive!Fav
May 29th, 2015  
Very cool collage.
May 29th, 2015  
Beautiful! I understand all about control and art as therapy :)
May 29th, 2015  
Its looks amazing. Brilliant work. Fav
May 29th, 2015  
This is awesome! Very impressive!
May 29th, 2015  
Well worth the wait! Fav-fabulous!
May 29th, 2015  
Awesome shots and work...so well done
May 29th, 2015  
your clouds from yesterday arrived here today !!!! picture perfect skies
May 29th, 2015  
Brilliant concept. Fav
May 29th, 2015  
What a fantastic collage. Such a lot of work and beautifully constructed. fav.
Bet you will be pleased to move home again. Sounds like you are having a stressful time. Keep breathing :)
May 29th, 2015  
wonderful. fav.
May 29th, 2015  
Fantastic
May 29th, 2015  
Oh this is fabulous Taffy! A lot of work to achieve the final result but well worth it! Safe trip to Beaver Island and try to relax a bit while you are there - it sounds as though you need to recharge your batteries before the trauma of moving! Take care!
May 29th, 2015  
A fabulous Fav of course!
May 29th, 2015  
Fabulous collage, each shot is lovely on its own.
May 29th, 2015  
Wow, this is really some piece of work. I really admire the technicality behind it and the time it must have taken (I truly envy you for the latter!). The alignment and tonal match is terrific, and I love the dramatic sky. Interesting also to see the sudden change from skyscrapers to flat city line.
May 29th, 2015  
Oh my word Taffy, what a process but totally worth it, this is amazing.
Its good to hear that you are at the point of moving back into your house and that summer on the island is coming up, both things to look forward to as well.
May 29th, 2015  
Stunning indeed taffy. What a lot of work that was. Wonderful result though. Sounds like you've a lot on. Hope things go smoothly and you get some well earned rest soon.
May 29th, 2015  
I'm really impressed how you have kept the tones even across the whole thing AND you have done HDR in each frame. Brilliant! Fav
May 29th, 2015  
A huge amount of work, but the results are stunning.
May 29th, 2015  
Hard work that paid off!!! Stunning composition of shots! Fav
May 29th, 2015  
This is stunning not just the processing but the photographs as well. Great work. Fav
May 29th, 2015  
Awesome! The shots fit together perfectly and the sky is amazing.
May 29th, 2015  
Fabulous - I love that you had a vision of something and pursued it to such a fine end! Kudos for all your hard work and your result.
May 29th, 2015  
You have created such superb art here! I'd fav it multiple times if I could. This should be hanging in an art gallery or museum.
May 29th, 2015  
Great panorama. Are you going to frame any pictures from the rented condo terrace in your remodeled place. Some of them would be stunning.
May 29th, 2015  
Well, they are all stunning but you can't frame them all.
May 29th, 2015  
Love it. It's clear that the cloud is too big for a single picture.
May 29th, 2015  
A stunning shot, not as easy as I thought at first.
May 29th, 2015  
What effort. Well done. Fav
May 29th, 2015  
Excellent processing Fantastic panorama and view. Fav.
May 29th, 2015  
Wonderful work! What an exciting panorama!
May 29th, 2015  
This is amazing, and well worth all the work of taking and processing the images. Brilliant work! Fav.
May 29th, 2015  
Great image and great processing.
May 29th, 2015  
Beautifully captured and processed. Fav!! 😃
May 29th, 2015  
Taffy that is amazing
May 29th, 2015  
Great collage.
May 29th, 2015  
Beautiful fav
May 29th, 2015  
fabulous - Fav
May 29th, 2015  
Super work and end result.
May 29th, 2015  
Just reading how you created this shot makes me feel totally uneducated in photography. A fantastic collage
May 29th, 2015  
Nicely done...fav.
May 29th, 2015  
Jo
A lot of work resulting in a wonderful collection of images.
May 29th, 2015  
Fabulous result. Great processing and display method.
May 29th, 2015  
FAV, obviously! So spectacularly cool !!!!! You are using every last minute in your place very well . . .
May 29th, 2015  
I think I would have just taken a photograph
May 29th, 2015  
That works so well Taffy. Hope everything goes as smoothly as possible over the coming weeks.
May 29th, 2015  
This is just amazing, well worth the effort. The clouds look amazing. Don't forget to pack your insect repellent for Beaver island :)
May 30th, 2015  
@karlow75 Had to laugh -- we arrived about an hour or so ago, and simply getting things in from the car was horrible. The mosquitoes have hatched! :-(
Thank you for the wonderful comment on my pano/collage. I appreciate it!
May 30th, 2015  
Oh this is so incredible!!!
May 30th, 2015  
You certainly know your camera and how to get it to work for you! My fav will put you at 50! Well deserved!
May 30th, 2015  
looks amazing and fabulous
May 30th, 2015  
Superb panocityscape. Fav.
May 30th, 2015  
Taffy this is beautiful...................and hopefully #1 on TT this week :)
May 30th, 2015  
Just incredible! Fav!
May 31st, 2015  
Very cool! And very impressive processing!!
May 31st, 2015  
FANtastic.....Super FAV
June 1st, 2015  
@maggiemae Thanks Maggiemae for commenting (and faving) even while you're under the weather! That's really kind of you.
June 1st, 2015  
@eyesmile Thanks Gena, for your visits and your fav! I appreciate it. I imagine you're about to leave soon for your summer travels?
June 1st, 2015  
Incredibly cool!! FAV!! Yes, I know the feeling....when all else fails and life appears to be out of control, then head over to the computer to play with photos, or head out to the beach to capture the sunset!! Incredible therapy!! I hope all goes as planned, and if not go to Plan B, or Plan C!!
June 4th, 2015  
No 1 on TT - no surprise there Taffy!! Congratulations!! I love this set of pics - this would look wonderful on a wall!!
June 5th, 2015  
@pamknowler thanks for letting me know Pam!! If we could only keep our temporary condo I know exactly which wall I would put it on!
June 5th, 2015  
@taffy You never know Taffy - I will keep everything crossed for you!! Sometimes things all work out as we want them to!!
June 5th, 2015  
Congrats taffy. I agree with @pamknowler
June 5th, 2015  
Congrats!!:)
June 5th, 2015  
This is amazing! Congratulations on the top of the Top Twenty! This would look wonderful up on the wall!
June 5th, 2015  
Many congratulations on having the number one image for the week! Very well deserved!
June 5th, 2015  
A well deserved top spot! Many congrats on this amazing capture!
June 5th, 2015  
Oooh! #1 on the TT! :) Well deserved, indeed.
June 6th, 2015  
Congrats on an awesome #1. We are camping and on limitedcpower and service...just checking in and saw you are number one. So well deserved!!
June 6th, 2015  
So deserving of the number one spot on the TT! This took a lot of patience and technical skill. An amazing image!
June 6th, 2015  
We done, #1 on TT! A brilliant series of shots.
June 6th, 2015  
Congratulations on TT! Even more exciting at #1. Beautiful series of shots. Well deserved.
June 7th, 2015  
Congrats on TT..you be 1...super job...and image!
June 9th, 2015  
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