[Rassie]

I remember when I emigrated to Canada in 2000 the winters in southern Ontario were brutally cold, and between snowstorms the sky was relatively cloud-free and sunny. Now, 24 years later the temperatures are a lot milder and we have a LOT more cloud cover. My goodness, I haven't worn my parka once during the last two winters! Cloudy days are the norm now during winter. And it's widespread. I was down in Florida three weeks ago and out of the three weeks there it was clouded over for at least two of those weeks. I guess cloudiness is inevitable with warmer days and all the water around us (great lakes in Ontario and Atlantic ocean on the eastern seaboard). Warmer temperatures, more evaporation, more snow with winds from the east. Just look at the mega-snowstorms Atlantic Canada and the US eastern seaboard have been experiencing the last few winters.

This makes for challenging photography of birds in the sky. Less light, higher ISO, bland white-coloured sky. I often feel like replacing the white sky with blue, but it doesn't sit right with me so I don't do it.

I caught this Red-tailed Hawk flying around near Pearson Airport in Toronto a couple days ago. Now imagine if I had some cotton balls of cloud in between blue sky in this image.
Right now it's nice and sunny out, with more cloud forecast for the second half of the day. Makes me want to play hooky today and go shooting. Retirement cannot come soon enough.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[Gaduf]

Very interesting views on weather changes Koos,
We have had some major floods in Kwazulu Natal and in parts of the Western Cape causing serious damage to homes and livestock.
Despite the bright sky you still managed to capture and frame the Hawk very nicely.What lens were you using?
Thanks for sharing.
Gavin

 

[Rassie]

Very interesting views on weather changes Koos,
We have had some major floods in Kwazulu Natal and in parts of the Western Cape causing serious damage to homes and livestock.
Despite the bright sky you still managed to capture and frame the Hawk very nicely.What lens were you using?
Thanks for sharing.
Gavin

Thanks, Gavin. 500mm PF with TC-14E III.

 

[Callie]

Nice, Koos! There is enough blue in the sky, if you want to boost it

 

[Rassie]

Nice, Koos! There is enough blue in the sky, if you want to boost it

Thanks, Callie.
Following your advice I realized I need to learn a lot more about Photoshop. I'm still a babe in the woods.
Here's another quick edit of the JPEG. I'll take some time over the weekend to re-edit the original.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[Callie]

Koos, I like it better already.
There is nothing so worthwhile than getting your post processing to a level where you can "fix" your raw files -Just a negative in film terms - to a level where you can bring out its full potential. Good luck with the endeavor! ACR now lets to change the blue, its magic. I normally use DXO's NIK to change the whites to blues.