I recently received a request for a photograph that I do not currently have in my files so I planned a quick trip to try and capture it. I pre-visualized the image: sunrise light on a specific snow covered mountain with some nice clouds in the sky, and on the morning I was there to make the image conditions were almost perfect with the exception of the clouds. I made the shot and granted it is a nice image, but not exactly what I was hoping for and I will most likely return to try again. I have learned over the years that patience and perseverance reward the photographer. That said, later in the day as I was traveling the weather started to change and as I was driving through the northern San Luis Valley an amazing lenticular cloud developed over the Northern Sangre de Cristo Range. It was mid-day light, but the combination of the snow covered mountains with the incredible sky and clouds was too good to pass up and envisioning it in black and white, I knew it would be an excellent image. So the moral of this story is that as photographers as much as we may plan and have hopes to capture certain images, it is often the random serendipitous chance moments that we encounter that produce the most satisfying images. I am not saying you should not plan and pre-visualize, but just getting out there and seeing what images come your way can be rewarding. In other words just get out and do it and see what nature provides!
A Lenticular Cloud over the Sangre de Cristo Range, CO
Stephen Weaver Photography/Earth Systems Imaging : The Art of the Landscape 