first time in the clouds

This is my first attempt at shooting the clouds. Can you tell me which is best or how I can take better ones. I only have one view where I live because the houses are so close together so this is the best I could get today.

P.S. I am aware that the sensor needs cleaning. I am working on getting the tools for that.

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HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

I don't see anything that suggests that the sensor needs cleaning, but it's your camera, so you should know.

I like #'s 2 and 3 better than the first shot because the colors seem more correct to me. #1 has colors that look fake or un-natural.

#2 looks like you may be boosting the contrast to get a more dramatic sky. If so, then I would say it's a bit overdone.

In regard to colors, there are different techniques that you can use to be more certain that your colors are correct, such as the use of a Custom White Balance using a Gray card. For the utmost accuracy, you would have to include a gray card in the scene (say in a corner, so that you can crop it out with a minimum loss of image) and shoot in RAW mode. Then in RAW processing the tool can be used on the image of the gray card to correctly set the color temperature.

Thanks for the tips. I have never done custome WB before. As far as my sensor, it is most noticible in the 3rd picture and at the largge side.

OK - there are two large sides - one at the top and one at the bottom. I am having a hard time finding anything in any of the pictures that I would characterize as possible dirt, and also seeing it in the same place on two or more frames. Sorry, but in order to confirm it as a dirty sensor, I would have to see shots taken of a bald sky or a blank, white wall. Two or more shots taken of such subjects but not in exactly the same orientation would have to show the same anomolies in all frames. I would use a "lens cap on" test and a shot of a white card out of focus and see what turns up there.

Custom WB is not at difficult to do but strains the brain for an understanding of it. The manual tells you how, but you should notice that while it says to use a white card, the footnote tells you that a Gray card is better -

Origional
http://i20.photobucket​.com …b249/SezzySue/c​louds1.jpg

Circled Spots
http://i20.photobucket​.com …ezzySue/cloudsc​ircles.jpg

OK - I certainly see what you mean when you show me the dots circled. My God, they're all over the place. I am trying to line up some of the prominent ones in the other cloud shots, but I can't find such spots in the same locations in the other shots. I guess that means that the dust moves around each time you take a picture. Weird. I'm amazed. Thanks for going to that trouble, because I just wasn't seeing anything - primarily because I didn't expect them to look like that. They're very soft.

It will be interesting to follow how you make out with the cleaning. This is probably the worst time of year (at least in the northern hemisphere) for dust because of the very low humidity and the static electricity.

Well I live in Las Vegas and my apartment lines up next to where they are doing construction. I will guess this is how it happened even though I tried to be careful. I will be buying a blower to clean it soon and I will take some shots on the white wall. I had first noticed them in the sky of some waterfall pictures, someone told me it was a dirty sensor. Thanks for the help.