A start to a new thread on Black and White Cloud Photography is a shot taken recently looking into the Sonoran desert of the Ft McDowell Indian Reservation, just east of Scottsdale/Phoenix. Lenticular and Saguaro combine for a pic I like to call..

ALIENS
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If only..our tongues developed like this cloud:
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What with monsoonal moisture and regional smog, crepes can now form whenever. Visible air:

Wonderful - with a bonus - there's an angry face with a snake tongue berating someone for smoking!!

Anita, North Cumbria, UK

Close examination of this photo brings one question to be answered; What the heck is going on here? The very many dark dots is a different perspective on praecipipatio, rain! Timing was everything in this shot. To catch the rain coming down just about straight into the lens, and at a distance close enough to record,,well, I wasn't trying to get the shot got. I couldn't repeat this shot if I tried. I did not kno I was about to get rained on. I was shooting for the many grey tones in the lighting of the distant cloud. I don't believe the mountain of a cloud pictured is the source of the rain.The source cloud is off screen at the very top of the picture Alls I do remember is that within a second or two of the the shot, the rain did reach ground.
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I still don't kno why i like this shot.
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Here and Now
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Cloud Still Life:
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A Postcard From So Far Away:
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Overhead at the Park
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Having A Good Time. Wish You Were Here.
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Going Thru The Gears;
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I think that looks like a rather manic British Isles

Anita, North Cumbria, UK

Gotcha, Anita. A gloomy lacunosus for me but a puffy white cloud for you.

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Anita, North Cumbria, UK

Cloud Dancing
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Contrail On Purpose
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Contrail on Porpoise?

Anita, North Cumbria, UK

I love the 'choomulus', Anita, and the porpoise on purpose, Mike - stunning photographs on this thread! My camera has been dormant for quite a while due to other 'stuff' getting in the way of cloud contemplation, but I think it's high time I dusted it off - after all, I am now retired and everyone keeps telling me I'll have lots of time to do things like photograph clouds - really?!

Honestly, Anita, I think you should enter your "Choomulus" into a photo contest, or send it to National Geo. It's very unique.

Lovely shot, Anita!

thank you for the kind comments - it's not really competition standard unfortunately as it was taken on full zoom and has also been severely cropped, so the resolution is too low. I got some satisfaction out of messing about with the original anyway, and I like the fact that you can see the driver looking very purposeful in the cab. Unless he's asleep

Anita, North Cumbria, UK

I bet if you printed 'Choomulus' on a 'canvas' paper, accentuating the graininess, it would look great. And I love the engine driver too - I don't think he's asleep, but I wonder what he's thinking about......

Murky Monsoon
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