A wide-angle is often used for impressive shots of clouds, since it can capture a wider visual angle, and thus can bring an imposing array of clouds into a single picture. Here, on the contrary, I used a powerful telephoto lens in order to get an array of clouds, known as Cummulus Congestus, (which are as high above the ground as 20,000 feet) in order to achieve the effects of both monumentality and buoyancy.

P1: Position and view with a wide-angle
P2: Position and view with a telephoto-lens

Optically the far distance of P2 does not allow the high altitude of the clouds to show, in contrast to the use of a wide-angle at P1 where the clouds are clearly over the ground. Using a telephoto lens at position P2 gives the impression of floating into or over the clouds, rather than seeing them from the ground. The specification of my position for the shooting was that of P2 described above. The shooting took place at the Tempelhofer Feld during September 2010 with a telephoto-lens of 500mm, 1:8 Tele-Tessar by Carl Zeiss (1979), employing an orange filter. I carried out the shooting with a Hasselblad 500 C/M and Ilford FP4 120 roll film.

Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar 500mm f/8 Hasselblad C - 2^ series