Title: Cotton Sky on Joshua Trees. Comparing clouds to cotton isn’t exactly breaking new ground, but the clouds in this picture just look so much like wisps of cotton wool that have been pulled apart. The cliché practically demanded to be invoked. (And to be sure, I’m not normally one to acquiesce to the demands of any old cliché, but this time I thought I could make an exception. Oh, and this other time.)
I was fascinated with the 2D look of this photo when I first saw it full size. I enhanced and focussed that quality with color and tonal manipulations during editing. But despite the almost unnatural look to the sky, it’s had nothing artificial added.
The first edit was done not long after I got into photography, and was a red and blue two-tone effect with a heavy texture applied. Eventually I re-edited it as my tastes evolved. I don’t always re-edit work I did when I was new to photography, it often just meets the trash can. But the source image in this case was too interesting to abandon.
Canvases and Giclée Prints
Archival-quality prints of this piece are available. Options include framed and unframed fine art paper and canvases.