Clouds and wind are intimately connected. Clouds are always being blown about. It matters not how wind or clouds are generated. High winds stand ready, for instance to blow up against the center of a cloud passing over mountains, and there it is, a "lenticular' (lens shaped) cloud. The clouds in the image above are such lenticular clouds, remaining above the mountain that contributed to shaping them.

But wait! In addition to the wind that raises the middle of lenticular clouds, other winds come along and move the cloud in a line perpendicular to the first wind. That is captured in the image above, too!

But whatever brings clouds into being and then moves them across the sky, clouds are BEAUTIFUL! Just ask the International Cloud Appreciator Society!

Before turning from the objects I photograph to how I do it, I have just been giving reasons WHY I photograph clouds in motion, blurring them intentionally.

When I use my Olympus or OM-1 camera I often turn to what the manufacturer calls "Live Composite" described in the intro blog post on Long Exposure.

Briefly, it is Olympus' way of capturing motion with a long exposure (very slow shutter speed), without creating an image that is just a bright light.

But even using Live Composite, slow shutter speed low ISO. and high f-stop, daytime Long Exposure photography is a challenge. I remembered that when I began a new photo shoot to include here in this post.

If you want to create long exposure images in daylight you pretty much have to use one special filter on your lens— an ND (neutral density) filter. Unlike a polarizing filter, which blocks glare and enhances color (its saturation), ND filters reduces all brightness across the spectrum.

As with so many things, long exposure shots need to avoid the extremes of shutter speeds that are either too high or too slow. Too high and the blur disappears. Too low and you lose all of the photograph's realism.

The goal is not simply blur, but expressive motion — enough to reveal movement without erasing structure.

Using a camera always means playing with TIME. Long exposure is well suited for fast-moving objects like flying birds or speeding trains. From our earthly vantage point, clouds move far more slowly than trains. But what seems to creep along in the sky quite slowly can be made to appear quick, and there is even the possibility of creating an over-quick image that is totally unrealistic.

Just as long exposure can, time lapse is great for capturing the movements of clouds or stars.. The difference is the end-product. If you want to produce a video record of what you are attracted to, you must use time lapse VIDEO or.......

..... just shoot video! Just use your camera's video capabilities. If you can see clouds moving even slowly, leave your camera on video mode and let it shoot for perhaps a minute, and there it is— a video record of the movement of clouds across the sky or the face of a mountain. So time lapse and regular video mode produce movies

Long exposure produces photographs that capture movement in a moment!

Sunrises and Sunsets

Clouds And Mist

Weather

A reminder as I close

This post is part of my Long Exposure Series exploring motion in blurred wings,

blurring trains and cars.

Future posts in this series will present the beauty of lightning and fireworks shot in Live Composite, a long exposure setting in Olympus/OM cameras.