Moments in Time: Seeing the Clouds Your Way

Do you know how to freeze that ever elusive time? One way is to capture it at the moment as a still picture. However, the stillness may open a floodgate of nostalgia, making us reliving the past with relish or rancor based on the frozen moment. Or, it will just let your imagination run wild, seeing the same form but evoking varying mental pictures as the eye of the mind sees it.

I consider myself to be a novice photographer, contented with using the simplest camera available, you know, the auto-focus, the just point and shoot kind. Thankfully camera technology has advanced to such a foolproof stage that unless one has jittery hands, it is almost impossible to mess up a kodak moment.

So armed with a Canon PowerShot A75, I've been shooting various scenes of nature, in between candid moment-like human-centric portrayals which is usually the preoccupation. Here I would like to share some of these shots that I thought would help illustrate the whims of Nature, with my take immediately above the respective images. Here it goes.

The ominous cloud formation with grey undertone, portending the imminency of a storm. The view is eastward toward the Hillsborough Bay from the Bayshore Boulevard, a thoroughfare skirting the bayside (hence the name). This is kind of the equivalent of the Strip in South Tampa where million-dollar homes and mansions line the landside of the road. In terms of the spectrum of human emotions, this would correspond to one who is about to throw a tantrum, or worst, a rage.



The torquiose sky is filled with white clouds of different stripes and shapes. This is a view of the Tampa Bay from the W Courtney Campbell Causeway looking southward. Carefree. To each one's own. But a grayish tinge seems to line the bottom of the clouds, injecting some caution, some tentativeness. This is sort of reflective of a guardedly optimistic mood.


A continuous swath of white cloud across the sky, like a contrail from a giant plane sweeping across the airspace, or a banner waiting to be inked. This is a view of the Hillsborough River near Temple Terrace. It could signify a contemplative moment where all judgment is suspended, just mulling and musing in a continual flow.


How often do you stare into the horizon, or into the sky if you are not at the water's edge? The vastness, the expansiveness would so overwhelm the beholder such that all earthly afflictions seem to pale into insignificance. This is the view one would be able to discern if one were to take a step back from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind. If you're up to it, you can also play trick with your mind using the various cloud formations to concoct a multitude of mental images that would only make sense to you.

You don't have to be like me, sharing some snippets of my mental images in a blog. The important thing is to engage in the act, and be at peace with yourself.