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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Five: Using clouds to imply meaning > Fourth of July at Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, 2007
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04-JUL-2007

Fourth of July at Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, 2007

Viewing a sporting event from the upper deck of a huge stadium can be a magical experience at dusk, particularly when the cloud cover itself makes a bold statement. In this image, I make the clouds my subject and the stadium becomes context. I use a wideangle lens turned vertically to make the stadium seem smaller and the cloud-laden sky larger.

Leica D-Lux 3
1/100s f/2.8 at 6.3mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time04-Jul-2007 19:43:21
MakeLeica
ModelD-LUX 3
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length6.3 mm
Exposure Time1/100 sec
Aperturef/2.8
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-1.00
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis06-Aug-2007 16:17
Thanks, Azlin, for seeing the implied threat in those clouds -- they are indeed all at nature's mercy. (That is why
most of them have umbrellas and rainjackets.) Denver is near the Rocky Mountains, and the evening skies are
often heavy with clouds. In this case, they passed on through without soaking us. The wideangle lens is essential to this photo. I could not have embraced both sky and stadium from this spot without it.
Azlin Ahmad06-Aug-2007 11:12
I like the contrast between the man made elements and the clouds. These thousands of people are at nature's mercy, and the question is which gets its way! I like the use of the wide angle lens, it emphasises the feeling of the clouds being overhead.
Phil Douglis11-Jul-2007 18:39
Thanks, Celia, for seeing the role that weight plays here in symbolic terms. Almost half of my image is made of dark, brooding clouds, weighing heavily over a stadium filled with 50,000 people intently watching the actions of tiny figures on the field. I create tension by playing all of that massive darkness over the brightly illuminated stadium. And yes, there is an eerie stillness here as the camera simultaneously stops the actions of both man and nature. All of which makes us wonder what is going to happen next.
Cecilia Lim11-Jul-2007 12:49
Phil, I love how you used the clouds to tell the story of this event. This dense group of dark, brooding clouds seem to set the stage and mood for us. We don't really need to know what is going on during this particular moment in the game, nor do we need to see the faces of the crowd or players to feel that there is an element of intensity and uncertainty that still surrounds the game. The eerie stillness of the crowd and players, waiting, anticipating, also heighten this intensity. The fact that the sky plays a prominent part and weighs down heavily on your image also tells me this - that the weight of this game's outcome is also going to be very important tonight.
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