Picture This

Our Picture This! assignment for this month was “Hey, Look at the Sky!” Readers sent in brilliant images from all around the world of sunset and dawn, of threatening storm clouds, and of fascinating configurations of clouds. In most cases the images included the ground as the anchor on which the sky was tied, and the interaction of reflections and color cast added to the amazing sights that the sky offers daily. While some image processing to add to the color was OK with us, we tended to eliminate those that showed more Photoshop than sky color or tone, feeling that the sky was, and should be, dazzling enough. (Please also note that prints must have information on the back of the print itself—please read our “rules” for entries as following them gives a better chance of selection.)

Mount Diablo

This backlit scene seemed to sum up the assignment as it shows the looker and the sky in one frame. Dawid Bilski made this shot with a Pentax K10D and a Pentax 18-50mm lens; exposure was f/8 at 1⁄500 sec at ISO 100. © 2009, Dawid Bilski, All Rights Reserved

Night Sky

Scott Bean stacked three exposures of the night sky, each f/2.8 at 30 seconds at ISO 1600 with a Canon EOS 20D and a Canon 28-80mm lens. © 2009, Scott Bean, All Rights Reserved

Cranes At Sunrise

Howard Penn made this photo at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico with a Canon EOS 40D and a Canon 100-400mm lens; exposure was f/10 at 1⁄500 sec at ISO 800. © 2009, Howard Penn, All Rights Reserved

Pond And Sky Reflection

In Christopher L. Johnson’s photo he asks us to look at the sky by looking down. Exposure with a Canon F-1 and a Canon 35mm f/2 lens was on Kodachrome 64. © 2009, Christopher L. Johnson, All Rights Reserved

Approaching Storm

Sandra Wittman caught this towering cloud in Montfort, Wisconsin, with a Canon EOS 30D and a Canon EF 28-135mm IS USM lens. Exposure at ISO 400 was f/4.5 at 1⁄3200 sec. © 2009, Sandra Wittman, All Rights Reserved

Surf And Sky

Made at the shoreline at Rockaway Beach, New York, Jessica Schulman made this beautiful sunrise shot with a Leica V-LUX 1. © 2009, Jessica Schulman, All Rights Reserved

Mountain Rainbow

This vivid rainbow rendition was photographed by Paul Cwik with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Exposure was f/32 at 1⁄40 sec with a Canon EF 28-300mm L IS USM lens. © 2009, Paul Cwik, All Rights Reserved

High Country Cloud

Made in the Colorado Rockies, this amazing cloud color and shape was photographed by Jim Griggs with a Canon F-1 and a Canon 300mm f/4 lens on Ektachrome E100VS film. © 2009, Jim Griggs, All Rights Reserved

Kathleen Lake

Donald Loring made this perfect meld of land, lake, and sky in the Yukon Territory of Canada with a Nikon D2X and a Nikkor 18-200mm lens. Exposure at ISO 200 was f/8 at 1⁄640 sec. © 2009, Donald Loring, All Rights Reserved

Monterey Coastline Looking West

This dazzling sky was photographed by Mark Schneider with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a Canon EF 16-35mm L lens. Exposure was f/11 at 1⁄50 sec. © 2009, Mark Schneider, All Rights Reserved

HDR Sky

Five exposures were merged in Photomatix Pro by Jacob Rumsey who made the exposures with a Nikon D200 and a Nikkor 18-200mm lens. © 2009, Jacob Rumsey, All Rights Reserved

Lake Charles Sunrise

Clifton Brown silhouetted a lone tree against a dazzling sky in Lake Charles, Arkansas. He photographed with a Canon EOS Rebel XSi and a Canon 18-55mm lens with an exposure of f/5 at 1⁄50 sec at ISO 200. © 2009, Clifton Brown, All Rights Reserved

Lake Champlain

The lake and sky join at the horizon in this photo by Carolyn Demers made with a Canon PowerShot 55 on Auto. © 2009, Carolyn Demers, All Rights Reserved

Bombay Hook NWR

Byron Towles made this shot with a Canon EOS A2 camera on Ektachrome 100 then scanned it with a CanoScan FS2710. The shot was made with an EF 20-35mm lens with camera mounted on a Gitzo tripod and a Foba Mini ball head. © 2009, Byron Towles, All Rights Reserved

Monochrome Sky

Made along Kit Carson Road in Taos, New Mexico, David Goldberg worked with a Canon EOS 5D and a Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8 lens. Exposure was f/13 at 1⁄125 sec at ISO 200. © 2009, David Goldberg, All Rights Reserved