Posted by Todd Caudle on March 28, 2010 at 8:52 PM
The year was 1962. JFK had just forced Nikita Khrushchev to stand down from his top-secret plan to install nuclear missiles in Cuba. But it didn't last. Humiliated at being forced to back down by the young, upstart American president, Khrushchev launched a singular nuclear attack on Denver, Colorado — another date that will live in infamy. The mushroom cloud was visible for hundreds of miles as it billowed into the crisp Colorado sky just as the sun was setting. The world would never be the same. In the hours that followed, America launched a retaliatory strike on the Soviet capital. All told, hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in each city before an unlikely peacemaker stepped forward and negotiated a truce. Out of the mist of war stepped Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk and kung fu master thought to have died late in the 19th Century. Old and craggy and with a soft-spoken demeanor, and a set of nunchucks and some throwing stars at the ready, he successfully restored the planet to its harmonic balance. Then, as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone, leaving some to wonder if he was really human, or a visitor from another planet.
(someone has too much time on his hands...)
Posted by Dan Walters on March 28, 2010 at 9:01 PM
Good Grief! Incredible clouds and color. Scary story as well!! You ought to write some novels as well!
Posted by Paul Martin on March 28, 2010 at 9:09 PM
Uh, where is Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck? It could be a scene from Red Dawn, which I believe was set here CO. Seriously, awesome cloudscape the textures and subtle tones are simply awesome.
What an unbelievable cloud display. And your pp work to bring that great luminosity to the warm and cool areas. That dark foreground strip is perfect for scale. Fantastico, Todd!
Posted by Paul Wegemann on March 29, 2010 at 12:18 AM
Todd, this is the finest example of nuclear mayhem I've ever seen.
Seriously, this is incredible!
Medicinal much - I think we all know what's causing those clouds now
Posted by Brian Jackson on March 29, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Oh, wow! Those clouds are way cool!!
Posted by Todd Caudle on March 29, 2010 at 12:29 PM
Here's the original, full-frame 4x5 image. This was taken just over Wilkerson Pass in South Park, looking back east at sunset, taken with a Wisner Expedition field camera and Schneider G-Claron 355mm lens, exposure long-forgotten.
I like how you can see the cloud casting its shadow on the right.
Amazing clouds from the cloudman! Reminds me a little of the smoke from the Hayman Fire on Day 1 as I was returning home from Salida after hearing a small forest fire had started to grow from the previous evening's campfire letter burning.
Discussion
19 replies(someone has too much time on his hands...)
Seriously, this is incredible!
I like the nuke, makes me feel like microwaving something...
I like how you can see the cloud casting its shadow on the right.
Awesome crop... looks like a volcano.