Epic Battle
In the last few days, all of our lovely, unseasonably cool weather and cloud-filled skies have started to evaporate. Those who know me will understand my disappointment. I am just not a fan of the “blue sky” days that are so common here much of the year. What I mean by “blue sky”, is exactly what it sounds like — nothing but blue… not even a hint of clouds to break the monotony of that wide expanse. The light is constant, bright and glaring. Ugh!
I like movement in my skies… I like the way that clouds change and shift the light so that from one moment to the next everything you view is transitioning… making new shapes, new colors, new moods. In order to console myself a bit I decided to do some vicarious cloud-watching by sifting through my ENDLESS stack of sky images. (Seriously, I could have a blog devoted to nothing but showing pics of the sky every day and I would currently have enough images to last me years and years.)
I picked this one out to share with you guys. So, come on… join in the fun! What do you see in this wonderful sky? What can your imagination turn these fantastic shapes into? (Don’t click on the image or read any further until you’ve got it all worked out in your head!)
What I saw was an epic battle between a Great White Shark and a mythical fire-breathing dragon! Can’t see it for yourself?! OK, go ahead… click on the photo to see my (barely) artistic interpretation. *GRIN*
I see hope!! and I’m high 5ing you sister. I hate that sun!!
I know you stand in solidarity with me on this issue, Ro! Grrrr.. the weather forecast for the next several days isn’t giving me much reason to be happy… but, hey, they could be wrong and I’m focusing all my mental powers on trying to conjure up some serious “June Gloom”. 🙂
I saw a DRAGON!! Ha, funny (been reading A LOT of dragon books lately with Li). But I saw it in a totally different place. Mine was in the shape of the blue between the clouds and it’s flying across the sky to the right. Dragon body in center + two wings above + head all the way to the right (like 3/4 up the right side of the frame). I like yours, much more action packed and dramatic. Great shot. Also, I agree. Although I am a great lover of the totally blue sky (which doesn’t happen all that often in NY) the clouds add a lot of variation and are SO much better for photos. That glaring, direct, super bright light can be a drag. I never wished anyone a cloudy day before…but…Harsi, hope you had a nice cloudy day today! B
Hey, it worked!! Thanks, B… your wishes brought a few puffy white clouds my way — thanks, buddy!! I can see if it was a bit of an anomaly how one could look forward to a “blue sky” day or two… but around here it’s pretty standard for much of summer and fall. And yes, the light is tough to work with photographically. I need to take a page from my friend Ro’s book and get my butt up early to go outside. That’s about the only way to get a softer, more even light on things. You have seriously got to stop sharing my brain waves… I can’t believe that you saw a dragon too!! Despite your detailed description, I’m not certain I found your exact dragon… but, I think I found ANOTHER dragon in the blue sky part. Heh… it’s a sky full of dragons, I guess. 🙂 Ezra told me I should have called this post “Dragon vs. Shark”… but that would have given everything away at the beginning. Plus, I’m really not sure if anyone other than us has ever seen that indie film from NZ (Eagle vs. Shark), so we’re probably the only two people that would think it was funny.
Hah! I saw the same dragon that Ben saw in the negative space of the clouds. What are the odds of that? But I love your interpretation of the shark vs. dragon, and now it’s so hard to see it as anything else. Sky full of dragons, as you said 🙂
Really?!! Another dragon?! That’s weird, Chris. Weird… but very cool. I’m really curious to see the dragons that you guys are seeing… I’m going to send you and Ben a copy of the photo and (if either of you is brave enough!) you can try your hand at sketching out your dragon for me to see. 🙂 This was lots of fun… expect to see more “cloud shape” posts in the future!
Alright Harsi, I gave it a shot… but this interpretation really goes to show my lack of artistic ability, haha. Even with a pen tablet it still looks a little lumpy, so use your imagination 😉 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TvKK6LVpfug/TeAoMpWc1yI/AAAAAAAAEUU/TBo_OxQYNZM/s720/Dragon_clouds2.JPG Now that I read Ben’s post again though I’m not entirely sure we are seeing the same dragon! If so, Ben, I’d love to see a picture of yours (it can’t be any worse than mine I’m sure).
What do you mean, Chris? That drawing is super cool! I can’t tell you how much it made my day to have you play along. You’re the best!!! I’ve extended the offer to Ben… we’ll see if he bites. 🙂 (BTW, I really, REALLY need to get myself a pen tablet… I’m still trying to do all my drawing and Photoshop work with a mouse… talk about frustrating and clunky!!)
Ha, Chris! That’s awesome. How funny that we saw the same thing, Well, kind of. We’re not seeing exactly the same dragon, but pretty darn close… OK everyone, no laughing 🙂 This is more of a Dr. Seuss (we read a lot of him these days too) bird or something. Let’s say, just some kind of winged creature. And a very happy one too, see the smile? So, maybe that’s not fire coming out of his mouth. Let’s say…he’s singing. Here you go: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/bendragonclouds.jpg/
Awww, you guys are just the greatest for joining in on the fun! I love your drawing, Ben. It’s so wonderful to play in this way… it really lets us all connect with the “inner kid” that I’ve been trying to rediscover lately. I treasure very few possessions… I guess you could say “things” are just not my thing. But, these two little offerings from both of you are really something special… thank you! 🙂
Ben, thanks for sharing! It does look like some sort of seussian creature. How weird is it though that we all saw dragons but in different places? I showed my brother the blank picture and he drew the same dragon that you did Harsi, fire and all (but sans-Shark of course). This is just a sky full of dragons!
Stranger and stranger, Chris… I’m tickled that you got your brother to play along too! Tell him he’s super cool for finding the same dragon I did. 🙂