As I mentioned yesterday, we have been having a rainy fall so far. On my Sunday, unbrella-packing, photoprowl, I swung by the Kennebunk Plains to see if there was any drama in the sky or any color in the maples. You can probably see a very little bit of color in the far tree-line, but at least the sky did not disappoint. The view over the plains and into the clouds, side on, so to speak, revealed a lot more character than the solid grey blanket overhead.

I exposed for the sky, mostly, by metering high and recomposing…and then brought the foreground up in Lightroom. This is a technique that works well with the Canon sensors, which hold a lot of detail in underexposed areas. Besides my usual Lightroom processing (see the page link above), I used a Graduated Filter Effect from the bottom to add brightness and clarity to the grasses, and visually balance the exposure against the sky.

I really like the layered in light clouds and the foreground provides just enough texture for balance. The tallish stalks are what is left of the Northern Blazing Star.

Canon SX40HS. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation.  24mm equivalent field of view. f4 @ 1/640th @ ISO 125. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness, and as above.