It wasn’t the best sky for photography on the day I took this. While it was a blue sky, rather than grey, which at least meant there was some contrast to be had, I still dislike empty skies most of the time, and being shot on black and white film, there wasn’t even any colour to be seen.
I think blank skies can work if you’re looking for negative space in a picture, or – if shooting colour – as a contrast to other subjects, but otherwise they can be a lot of nothing taking up a lot of the frame. This is made worse by the fact that I sometimes get banding artifacts when scanning images, which are especially noticeable in such scenes.
I’d much rather have some clouds to break things up and add interest.
Nikon F80 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
Taken on 8 February 2026
Steel City Snapper photography 