White skies etc.

[john borrelli]

I am a beginner myself but here are some comments.

I think Vaughn's second image Joshua Tree is most instructive here. If you look at the two bright lines in the foreground to midground, they lead the eye to the two rocks and then to the sky. The light of the two "lines" match and compliment the light of the sky quite well.
I'm guessing that the photographers of the images with blank skies that you liked similarly managed to incorporate their skies into the composition of their images and into what they were trying to communicate.

Imagine looking at the original negative of this image, the balance of light and dark elements and the graphic qualities would still be there.

[Drew Wiley]

Analogously to how Brett Weston employed pure black as an abstract graphic element in
the 20th Century, the great photographers of the 19th like WH Jackson, Muybridge, and
Watkins used pure white skylines as bold graphic elements. The work of these blue film
masters is well worth viewing.

[cyrus]

Last time I went to Rome, this was an issue. The sky was boringly clear and heck. Not a speck of a cloud. So I double exposed with with cloud photo negatives that I keep on file for precisely such cases.

[Maris Rusis]

White sky landscape photographs can be an affirmation of high technical accomplishment.

Years ago I had the privilege (responsibility?) of occupying the front office of a photographic gallery having hopeful exhibitors bring me their portfolios for assessment. The one grace-note I looked for was the white sky landscape where the sky tone was just perceptibly darker than paper white. This tonal step is so exacting, so difficult to catch that it rarely appears by chance or coincidence. Only photographers who REALLY know what they are doing make it happen consistently. Those are the photographers who tended to get shows in the gallery. On the other hand it is dead easy to burn in a sky full of clouds and crank up the drama of an otherwise bland scene. It's what I do mostly but occasionally, just for the challenge, I'll do a "white" sky; very sweet when it works but more effortful.

[Vaughn]

Right you are, Maris!

When enlarging, getting those pale skies just right is an act of love and dedication. This print was a bear. This is just a scan of a contact of the 4x5 neg, but I print it 16x20. Not clear sky, but fog.

8 minute exposure as dusk moved on. I got bored, so I ran on the pier and jumped up and down to move it.

[Amedeus]

Love the pier Vaughn !

[Vaughn]

Thanks!

[john borrelli]

A very nice image, which to my eye, shares some of the same fine qualities as your Joshua Tree image.

[D-tach]

Right you are, Maris!

When enlarging, getting those pale skies just right is an act of love and dedication. This print was a bear. This is just a scan of a contact of the 4x5 neg, but I print it 16x20. Not clear sky, but fog.

8 minute exposure as dusk moved on. I got bored, so I ran on the pier and jumped up and down to move it.

A very powerful image indeed - I like the gradual transition from dark to light and the way the bridge stays neutral in there. Good job!