Stormy Skies and Sunset Lies

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Or: Why You Should Always Shoot in Bad Light

Photos shot with: Fujifilm X-T2 + Fujinon XF16-55mm f/2.8

Lean in. It’s time for some real talk from your friendly neighborhood Gen X Dad who survived dial-up internet, camera film, and pants with actual pockets.

Let me drop a little truth bomb on your creative brain: 📸 You’re playing it too safe with your photography. You keep waiting for that perfect golden hour, the ideal Instagrammable light, the “clean” sky with soft pastels and zero drama.

But guess what? Drama is where the magic lives. Ask any entrepreneur, growth doesn’t happen on easy street. It happens when the sky’s falling, the clouds are thick, and you're one dumb decision away from soaking your overpriced socks in beach puddles. Just saying...

The Setup: Welcome to Weather Therapy

These shots were taken on the Belgian coast. Yes, the actual North Sea where the clouds are moodier than a teenager at family dinner (and trust me... that does say something!)

I took my trusty Fujifilm X-T2 out for a spin, paired it with the XF16-55mm f/2.8, aka the “kit lens that could.” You know the one the internet says isn’t pro enough?

Yeah. That lens. I love it, and use it a lot. It ate this weather for breakfast and came back for seconds.

Shot 1: Beach Huts Under Judgment Day Light

Look, if the Book of Revelation had beachfront property, this would be it. The white beach huts are lined up like they’re waiting for their final report card from God, and He is not impressed.

🔥 Tip: Embrace contrast. Don’t over-edit. Let the sky do the screaming.

Shot 2: Lovers & Light Beams

There’s a couple walking along the beach like nothing’s wrong, while a literal apocalyptic lightshow rips through the clouds. And that’s the shot. Because life doesn’t stop being beautiful when things get dark — you just have to notice it.

🧠 Lesson: Shoot through discomfort. The story’s in the juxtaposition.

Shot 3 & 4: The City, the Storm, and the Reflection Flex

Here’s where the X-T2 and that underrated kit lens went full Beast Mode. Reflections. Moody skies. Ocean texture. If this isn’t a cinematic flex, I don’t know what is. The buildings are catching the last golden hits of sunlight while the sky is cooking up a mid-tier end-of-days cloud formation.

📷 Pro tip: Use puddles like a mirror. Mother Nature’s budget infinity pool.

But Why Shoot in "Bad" Light?

Because perfection is boring. Flawless blue skies? Meh. Give me clouds with attitude. Give me wind. Give me that split-second where the sun punches through like it’s trying to prove a point.

That’s where your portfolio stops being “nice” and starts being art.

What I Want You to Take Away:

  • Your gear’s good enough. Stop crying about not having the next lens. You’re just avoiding doing the work.

  • The X-T2 still slaps. This camera is like an old rockstar — a little grizzled, still shows up, and always delivers.

  • Help keep Hive strong and decentralized by supporting my witness node. Vote for @botlord -> https://ecency.com/witnesses (yeah, I had to throw it in somewhere, right?)

  • Shoot when you don’t feel like it. Especially when the forecast is “you’ll ruin your shoes.”

“Your photography journey is not about being the best. It’s about becoming the kind of person who doesn't flinch when the clouds roll in.”

So next time the weather turns, don’t stay inside editing your lunch photos. Grab your camera, channel your inner storm chaser, and go make something real.

📸💥 Back in my day, we didn’t wait for golden hour, we developed our negatives in the dark. For real. Literally.

Stay gritty, stay curious, and don’t forget to post your moody bangers to Hive or I’ll tell everyone you shoot in Auto.

📸 about my images

All photos are my own, shot on my iPhone and sometimes edited in Lightroom.
AI images? Those are created by me too, using my own prompts.

Explore more: Borniet On Hive

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93 comments
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As usual, awesome capture, brother Bjorn!

However, my favorite one is

!ALIVE

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Thank you! And appreciate your selection ;-) Love that one as well! Yet, my favorite is actually the one with the rolling clouds and the reflection.
!ALIVE
!BBH
!INDEED

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Great capture which shows that art is where drama lives.
!ALIVE
!INDEED

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Art and drama are always closely connected! ;-)
!BBH
!PIZZA
!MMB

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(Edited)

PIZZA!

$PIZZA slices delivered:
savvyplayer tipped tydynrain (x4)
borniet tipped wanderelle
tydynrain tipped borniet
borniet tipped tydynrain
@tydynrain(6/15) tipped @savvyplayer (x5)
borniet tipped oasiskp2
borniet tipped cryptoyzzy
borniet tipped hivecurious
cryptoyzzy tipped borniet

Come get MOONed!

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These photos from the Belgian coast are spectacular 💖 It's an awesome reminder that great art comes from shooting through the discomfort and using what you have 🙌

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Discomfort and using what you have are limits, and limits often increase creativity ;-)
Thank you for your very nice words!
!HOPE
!PIZZA
!INDEED
!ALIVE
!BBH

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Those are epic shots, brother, very nicely done indeed! I love contrasts like that! 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!BBH
!LOLZ
!PIZZA

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YEs, me too! Love it when you can see the stormy weather rolling in, and still enjoy the last bits of sun ;-)
!HOPE
!PIZZA
!INDEED
!ALIVE
!BBH

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Indeedy, and the reverse too, where dark storms were raging, and then the clouds part, and rays from the sun pierce through the darkness! 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!HOPE
!INDEED
!MMB
!ZOMBIE

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Yes indeed for sure! The reverse is even more impressive and nice to witness!
!HOPE
!PIZZA
!INDEED
!ALIVE
!BBH
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And it also bodes better for the near-future weather! 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!INDEED
!MMB
!STRIDE
!ZOMBIE

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Perhaps you also want to take "epic shots" of your local jungle community (prioritizing the skies) and sharing them here on Hive !INDEED! 😅

!HOPE !WINEX !ALIVE !PIZZA

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I do that every day, and I have for years now. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!HOPE
!INDEED
!PIZZA
!WINE

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In that case, it looks like most (if not all) photos of the sky that you take in your local jungle community are epic (at least for you) indeed! 😎

!LOLZ
!ALIVE

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They are usually pretty amazing, it's true. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!LOLZ

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If someone loves looking at the skies, then I don't think that there would be a time that the person would find the sky "ugly" any time of the day or night. 🧘‍♂️🤓

!BEER

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Perhaps, though gray, cloudy and overcast skies are not usually very interesting, especially for photography. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!BEER

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Some people would say that regardless of how interesting the skies are, taking a photograph of the sky would still produce a picture worth a thousand words. 🧘‍♂️🤓

!WEIRD !PIZZA !ALIVE !UNICOIN !HUG

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Well, with an undifferentiated gray sky, that lacks any contrast, maybe a few dozen words. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
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!WEIRD

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Perhaps someone would take a shot (of the sky) that is purely in one color (at least when viewed directly with the eyes), and still evoke about a hundred words. 🧘‍♂️🤯😅

!ALIVE
!LOLZ

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I'm very curious exactly which those 100 words would be. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!LOLZ

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We can start with the words "sky", "gray", "above", "one color", "no clouds", "simple", "photograph", "picture", and "still". 🧘‍♂️ That's already 10% towards having 100 words! 😆😅

!WEIRD !INDEED !HOPE !WINEX

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OK, keep going then! 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!BBH
!HOPE
!INDEED
!WEIRD

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I prefer not to give 1,000 words for every single picture (that isn't just one color) that I encounter! 🖼️🤯😅

!BEER

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But giving 1,000 words for a picture that is only one color would test your lexical prowess! 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!BEER

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Perhaps we could be inspired by other people who have already done it before us !INDEED! 🤯😅

!WINEX
!ALIVE

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Well, then that begs the question of whether someone has actually done that yet! 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!BBH
!PIZZA

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Given that there are so many people in the world (like artists and poets in particular), the chances of at least one person producing a thousand words for a picture with only a single color is very high !INDEED! 🧘‍♂️😎

!WEIRD !HOPE !ALIVE !HUG

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OK, but where are they? 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
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!WEIRD

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Perhaps they think of their "thousand words for a single-color picture" work as "too good to share", and they require something for someone else to see them (such as paying a fee) !INDEED. 🤯😅

!WEIRD !HOPE !WINEX !ALIVE

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Ah, so they're more in a potential than in an actual state of having done so. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
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!WEIRD

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I was thinking of the authors whose "thousand-words-for-a-single-color-picture" work already finished, but simply don't want to share without anything in return. 🤯😅

!WEIRD !INDEED !HOPE !WINEX !ALIVE

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That would be a very atypical artist indeed, as most want to share their work, whether they're compensated or not. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

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!INDEED
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1WEIRD

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Those works by such "atypical artists" might also be copyrighted !INDEED, so that further restricts the sharing of their poetic artwork. 🤯🤯😅

!WEIRD !ALIVE !WINEX !HUG

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That's a pretty ridiculous situation for an artist to be restricted by their own copyright. 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙

!ALIVE
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!WEIRD

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There are people who say that art and copyright hardly go together, especially since art is a form of expression. 🧘‍♂️🤯😅

!ALIVE

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Indeed, and I would tend to agree. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE

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Imagine how !WILD it would be if facial expressions are also copyrighted! 😮🤯🤣

!PIZZA
!ALIVE
!HUG

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Since facial expressions, like movements, are an innate and inherent aspect of being human, I don't think that it would be possible to copyright them. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
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I know that it isn't possible to copyright them, but I just suggested on my previous comment imagining that scenario. 🤯

Anyway, how about imagining if very common words such as "a" become copyrighted !INDEED! 🤯🤯😅

!WEIRD !HOPE !WINEX !ALIVE

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I think that when things like that start falling under copyright, that people should simply ignore such nonsense. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
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!INDEED
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!WEIRD

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It would be very !WEIRD !INDEED if a government itself (which enforces copyright) becomes copyrighted too. 🤯🤯🤯😅

!STRIDE
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!HUG

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(Edited)

Given that governments are supposed to serve and act on the behalf of their denizens, I'm thinking that such a thing would not be such a bright idea. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

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I wonder for which group that type of copyright would not be a good idea !INDEED. 🤯😅

!WEIRD !ALIVE !WINEX !HUG

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I'd say for none. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
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Do you mean that copyright is not a good idea for none? 🤔🤯🤯 Please check my previous comment which I haven't edited (yet). 🤯😅

!WEIRD !INDEED !HOPE !ALIVE !WINEX

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(Edited)

Change 'none' to 'anyone', and it would work slightly better. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

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(Edited)

You could have used the word "anyone" instead of "none" right on your previous comment to avoid confusion. 😆😅

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True, it would have been a more appropriate choice of words, but I didn't, so we must make do with how the situation presents itself now. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

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It really looks like you want this conversation to move on just after you realized the typo. 🧘‍♂️😅

!PIZZA
!ALIVE
!HUG

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Indeed, as there are far more interesting things to discuss. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!HUG
!PIZZA

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Some of those typos would !INDEED also become "interesting things to discuss" too. 😆😅

!WEIRD !HOPE !WINEX !ALIVE

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Well, I'd say that our definition of 'fun' differs a fair bit. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!BBH
HOPE
!INDEED
!WEIRD

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It becomes even more obvious that you don't want to talk about your "keyboard autocorrect"! 🤯🤣

!BEER

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Your perceptive skills are incredible indeed. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!BEER

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It looks like you wanted to say that I am too perceptive with your "keyboard autocorrect", such that you indirectly want me to reduce such perception towards your keyboard !INDEED. 🤯😅

!LOLZ

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Sure, that. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!INDEED
!LOLZ

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You resumed replying with very few words (oftentimes only one word) whenever I talk about your "keyboard autocorrect"! 🤯🤣

!WEIRD !INDEED !WINEX !ALIVE !HOPE

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Well, in truth it's mind-numbingly boring to me, so can you blame me? 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙

!ALIVE
!BBH
!HOPE
!INDEED
!WEIRD

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In that case, I would try to do my best to shift the conversation to a slightly different thing to your "keyboard autocorrect", which is no other than your "quick typing fingers" !INSTEAD! 🤯🤣

!PIZZA !ALIVE !UNICOIN !HUG

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That sounds great, and I look forward to it. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!HUG
!PIZZA
!UNICOIN

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Let's start the conversation about your "quick typing fingers"! ✋ Let's !HOPE that your "quick reading eyes" haven't already been influenced by them! 🤗🤣

!LOLZ

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Nah, as that's basically the same thing now. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!HOPE
!LOLZ

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How about your "quick reading eyes", which is not directly responsible for your "correct" typings? 🤯🤣

!WEIRD !INDEED !HOPE !WINEX !ALIVE

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Well, it may not be directly responsible, but it sure plays a notable part. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!BBH
!HOPE
!INDEED
!WEIRD

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We can include other body parts until we eventually get into "quick stepping feet" !INDEED! 👣🤣

!WEIRD !HOPE !WINEX !ALIVE

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Well, thankfully my feet don't play much part in my typing, so we're good. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!ALIVE
!BBH
!HOPE
!INDEED
!WEIRD

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There's the possibility !INDEED that you need your feet to be fast to go to your phone or your laptop to resume typing, or fix your Internet router whenever needed! 🧘‍♂️🤯🤓

!WEIRD !HOPE !STRIDE !HUG

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Yes, of course, but none of that involves typing. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!HOPE
!INDEED
!MMB
!STRIDE
!WEIRD
!ZOMBIE

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However, if your feet don't cooperate, then you won't be able to reach your phone or your laptop to type in the first place (unless you ask someone else to bring your devices to you)! 🤯🤯😅

!WEIRD
!LOLZ

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Well, thankfully I haven't experienced that up until now, so I think I'm safe. 😁🙏💚✨🤙

!LOLZ
!WEIRD

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