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October Storm
15 October 2025
We adjust for the unreliable weather forecasts by looking at the National Weather Service for our radar and by looking out the window. We can see the Pacific Ocean out to the horizon, which gives us a clearer picture of what's coming in than the forecasts.
October Storm. Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max back camera at 15.7mm, f2.8, 1/456 second and ISO 32 using the Adobe Indigo camera app. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.
This is what we saw the moment a storm was expected to inundate the neighborhood. No rain. Just the remnants of a storm that came in late and passed quickly. Not the two-day event forecast.
Surprised to see the golden glow of sunset after a gray and wet day, we grabbed the phone and lined up this shot.
But it was the devil of an edit to bring it back to what we saw.
The capture was nearly monochromatic, which is not how we remembered the scene. There was a coolness to the clouds and landscape that contrasted with the warm light of the sky.
Fortunately, Camera Raw lets us tweak those values in its Color Grading panel where color wheels for Highlights, Midtones and Shadows let you drag the current neutral point in any direction. Which is all it took.
We also used Photoshop's Remove Tool to remove unsightly utility wires. We usually do that by hand but we have nothing against a little help now and then. And this worked well.
We don't think either of those edits qualifies as unethical.
As for utility wires, the mind tends to erase them when viewing the scene. We look beyond them. We say, "What a beautiful view!" We don't say, "Man, that would be gorgeous except for those utility wires." We don't, in short, focus on the distractions. We ignore them.
As for the color shifts, it's important to remember the sensor is not God. It captures what it can. It isn't infallible. Memory isn't infallible either but it is helpful in detecting fallibility. "That's not what I saw," we might say as we look at an image we took. "That isn't what attracted me to that scene." Details to follow.
The point is that you are in control of the image. Not the limitations of the sensor or some ugly urban inevitability. You may certainly chose to indulge those distortions from what our mind sees but you are not obliged to do so.