Now that you say so, I can easily see it being a waterfall as well, for the same reason you've given. And I agree that the definition on the upper cloud would help. Thanks for pointing that out, and for commenting. ^_^
Heaven's Rays by @Jansu (Brandon Ballenger)
This was a quick (about fifteen minutes I think) attempt at drawing clouds with crepuscular rays creeping through. Not all the rays are at the same angle, which looks quite odd in my opinion, and I'm not sure you can tell what the image is without me saying so, but there you have it. Entirely doable. Though perhaps a little more variation in color was more desirable.
Comments & Critiques (6)
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As I've said before, I love this image, Janus. ^_^ It captures the surreal and ambiguous qualities of the sky. The colors seem about perfect to me -- they look just right for thinning winter storm clouds. I especially like the contrast of the soft grey clouds with the extreme white highlights; it seems like it would actually hurt your eyes as if you were looking at the sun. Great work =)
I can see that this is an image of rays of light shining between clouds, but it also seems like it could be a wave washing up on a grayish beach. Perhaps a bit of gold in the highlights on the clouds or more shadows in the cloud part that's not in the light? Also maybe separate the ray a little more?
But despite the possible ambiguity, this really is a pretty image... I've always loved crepuscular rays (I keep forgetting that word!!)... And I agree at how beautiful the shine on the further away cloud is... :D Have you been studying the sky while you photograph it? ;)
While the image certainly looks great, my only criticism of it is that because the light beams are so thin and close together, it looks more like rain than light, you know? If they were bigger, wider beams, it'd look more like light than rain... ^^;;;;;;;;;;;;;
I don't think the problem is so much that the rays aren't all the same angle (which is hardly noticeable and quite normal in the natural world, depending on the position of the sun), but that the rays are almost all slightly curved, so that my first inclination was that this was a waterfall. Also, a little more definiton around the edges of the nearer (top) cloud would help to show that it's a break in the clouds (if I'm seeing this right). Those points aside, I like what you've done here. Not an easy subject to tackle. More color could be nice, but I like the greys in this picture and I think they bring out the rays sufficiently. Nice work.