Even cloudy and wet days have something to catch the eye. The following photos were taken a few days ago, on an otherwise unremarkable day. Low clouds, drizzle, and rain. We were shooting with the camera enclosed in a rain hood.

Periodically the entire panorama would change.

Sometimes within a few minutes and miles. The two preceding photos were taken within a half an hour and a few miles of each other. Watching the clouds makes it hard to concentrate on navigation.

The light is low and flat. The Canon 40D with which these were shot was doing its best to tease out something at which to look. All the images except the last two were taken with a 24 to 70 (2.8) Canon zoom, with ISO speed set at 200.

OK, we’re not sure if this should even be included. But the clouds would part momentarily giving us a glimpse of the surrounding mountains. Can you imagine flying in these conditions prior to modern nav aids? Reminds us of trying to get a celestial observation in overcast conditions (not fun!).

Ten minutes later and we had a new cloud show.

Next day, brief period of clear sky, with a “table cloth” of clouds. We are testing here a new 100 to 400 zoom lens (still Canon), on a Canon 50D body, trying different combinations of ISO speed, F stop, and shutter speed.

We’re impressed with the sharpness and color in these conditions. Both are low light photos, with ISO (film speed) pushed to 800, and shot from a moving boat at a shutter speed of 1/1000th wide open at F5.6 with the zoom at 400mm. In good light the lens is wonderful.