The song says, “so many things I could have done, but clouds got in the way”.

That’s not how a photographer should view should view clouds. They can be a great asset in a landscape photo. The images today are just some examples of that fact.  I happened to have a group of pictures containing clouds in a folder, waiting for something to do.

They can be the primary focus of an image, or just be an addendum. They can be colorful or colorless, powerful or weak, ominous or cheerful. They work well at sunrise/sunset, or bright sunny days. On some occasions, clouds can be the entire subject.

I know this post is entitled Cloud Nine, but you always knew I couldn’t limit my pictures to nine….didn’t you.

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I know that at the end of my last post, I promised you some wonderful work by some great guest photographers. I am still chasing links so that you can visit their websites etc.. Postponing that article was appropriate anyway, because I have offered up some more opinions today, and I prefer not to mix my often controversial thoughts, with the work, or even the names of other photographers. That would not be fair to them.

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As an addition to my opinions (support) for Wisconsin’s Right to Work Legislation, in yesterday’s article, I felt I should add the comments below.

I mentioned in those paragraphs, that I once helped to bring a union to a place that I worked.  I wasn’t responsible for initiating the idea of a union, but I helped get it elected. A year later when the opportunity came for the company to ask for a desertification vote, they did just that. The union was indeed thrown out by the workers. I took a long hard look at my own position with the company. I could either cry about the fact that I had no guarantee that I would be treated as a clone of my brethren, and to  live a life of forced equality, where one size fits all, or I could make a decision to excel. Actually do more than what was asked, and make more money (commission). I could either be myself and celebrate the differences in human beings, or make a point of doing whatever the union and the company collectively decided what my job was, and make darn sure I did nothing more.  The do only what you have to mentality.  I decided to be my own man, and I have never regretted that. Do note, that this company complied just as they should have, with equal hiring laws. They did not discriminate in race, sex or other matters. I tried to remember that it was the company, not the union that provided me with the job. I had a boss (the company) I did not need two. The communistic aspects of unions, never fit my personality. For those of you who prefer that lifestyle, you should have and do have the right, to pursue unions along with their negotiators,  and resulting contracts. People who disagree with union representation, should have the right to work any job that a company will hire you for, but say no to the union.

Many years ago, I worked in a factory where the workers were represented by a union.  I actually was not yet a union member as I was still in my probationary period with the company when my first encounter occurred.  Of course there were the obligatory breaks for lunch and rest.  A loud whistle would blow and within a fraction of a second, every tool would drop, and every machine would be shut down. I continued to work testing an outboard motor for maybe,  five seconds.  I was approached and chastised by the union representative who was standing near-by. Five seconds!  Maybe! I was a card-carrying “power to the people” liberal at the time……but I couldn’t live like that.  We are all different, and one size does not fit all.

Why is it that people of my mindset,  will accept that those who want a union, have the right to have them, but that unions always want to take away my right to work without one?

Only in modern-day America, could the term “right to work” be considered dirty.

Thanks for stopping,                                                                                                                     Wayne