Christy Turner captured the photo above of a friend’s daughter – a 2020 graduate, Cheyann Clarke-Colburne – under a lowering sky near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Christy wrote:
Incredible mammatus clouds and a rainbow help complete a graduation photo shoot. Since Cheyann didn’t get a proper occasion to wear her beautiful graduation gown, we scheduled a photo shoot at her grandparents’ farm. What we didn’t count on was nature delivering up an incredible backdrop post-storm.
Thank you, Christy, and all the best to you, Cheyann!
By the way, in case you’re not familiar with them … mammatus clouds are the pouchlike protrusions hanging from the clouds in the photo above. Most clouds are formed by rising air. But mammatus clouds form when air sinks from a higher layer into a lower layer, bringing ice crystals with it.
Mammatus clouds are typically a short-lived phenomenon. They often last only 10 or 15 minutes, don’t necessarily foretell a storm, and they don’t drop downward to form tornadoes. But they look awesome!
Read more about mammatus clouds and see spectacular photos here
Bottom line: Coolest graduation photo ever! Mammatus clouds – and a rainbow – provide the backdrop.
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