WeatherChrome - Sky by Jon Van de Grift

Cold thoughts for a warm day.

Jon Van de Grift — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:56:44 +0000

I’m looking out my window at a line of cumulus clouds developing over Denver. Tall cumulus clouds. You know, the kind you look at and think, hmmm… I wonder if that’s going to become a thunderstorm. It’s a beautiful sight this time of the year, as many of us long for the high-sun days of spring, filled with turbulence and rain and wind and whatever else the atmosphere is in the mood for. But this is the middle of January, and such things shouldn’t be here now. Not at 40 degrees latitude and over 5000 feet above sea level. I should be looking through frost-covered windows. At a frozen lake. Surrounded by snow-covered pines. Despite a few snowstorms, this is turning into the winter that never really was. We’ve seen many days like today, when the proverbial mercury has made its way above 60 degrees, and it just doesn’t feel right. I’m not ready to start thinking about twisting clouds, crackling thunder, and fist-sized chunks of falling ice just yet. I still want to shiver a little as I walk out onto the trail, still want to get a little lost in the snow, still want to need that cup of hot tea. Speaking of…

Squall line thunderstorms photograph added to the “B-sides” gallery.

Jon Van de Grift — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:32:54 +0000

I was organizing some photos last night and I came across this alternate to “Wave,” that very nearly made it into my Spring Into Summer gallery. Both of these photos were captured from about 30,000 feet near a squall line over the American Midwest. A warm setting sun made for quite a show from my aircraft. There is something about the arrangement of light in this image that sometimes draws me in just a little more than “Wave.” You be the judge, and feel free to post comments here, or over in its home, which is the B-sides gallery. If you haven’t checked out the B-sides gallery yet, it’s worth a look – you’ll find a collection of alternates to several of the photographs in the other galleries and in some cases, you might like the B-side better. Again, comments welcome!

New captions for the “Fall Into Winter” photographs, “Purchase” page update with Acrylic mount photo.

Jon Van de Grift — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:43:13 +0000

I’ve heard a lot of helpful comments and suggestions since I launched this thing a few days ago. In particular, everyone seems to love the Spring Into Summer captions, but cared a little less for the more journalistic Fall Into Winter captions. So, this morning, heavily armed with the new The War on Drugs album, a chai tea, and some Rocky Mountain sunshine, I dove back into my photographer’s notes and rekindled the stories. Most are short, hopefully sweet, and I feel more fitting for the photographs. You be the judge here. As always, any comments are welcome.

I’ve also had a couple inquiries about Acrylic mounting. This really is a a fantastic environment for a photograph, with the print front-mounted to the Acrylic, then backed with French cleats applied. It is definitely best for low-light rooms because it is more reflective than my other mounting techniques (just to clarify, it’s certainly no worse than traditional glass or Plexi-glass). I’ve added a photo to the Purchase page which attempts to show an Acrylic mount on a wall with common, canned halogen lighting. Unfortunately, the Acrylic is so transparent here that there is little to see, and that’s a good thing!

Always taking requests – let me know your thoughts.