A Certain Kind Of Sky.

So there’s a certain kind of sky I’ve seen through the years which, while not completely uncommon in the Northeast, happens only occasionally and is somewhat under-represented in New England landscape photography: the Dark Sky Over Sunlit Earth.  It almost always occurs as a powerful afternoon storm moves eastward, clearing the  western horizon and letting in the slanting rays of the sun.

While it’s mostly a summertime sight, I was moved to pull over in the hills of Colrain this evening as departing rain clouds formed a dark backdrop for sunlight on a stand of birches on the slope below me.

But I was barely out of the car when the patch of sun disappeared, leaving me with just the dark clouds over an unspectacular post-peak landscape:

Without my graduated filters, I blew out the sky trying to get some detail in the unlit trees; I guess that’s what happens when one wanders around without one’s tools.

But then, as I tracked the line of storm clouds southward, one of them dropped its gifts through a low band of slanting light, creating this marvelous surprise way down-valley:

I found this scene dramatic in a way which reminded me of things I’ve seen out west, and was pleased to be where I was for the minute or so that it lasted.

I hope you like it too.  😉