Cloud Photography · Notable Uses & Credits
Notable credits
What began as a Colorado weather-and-sky blog has quietly become a go-to cloud reference in advertising, animation, and visual effects.
Selected Credits
Disney Animation built its widely used volumetric “Cloud” research asset from one of my cumulus photographs (Colorado Clouds, July 26, 2012). The cloud was recreated by Disney artists during the studio’s Moana-era rendering research and released to the global graphics community under the same Creative Commons license I use.
“The actual cloud is based on a photograph by Kevin Udy on his Colorado Clouds Blog.” — Yining Karl Li, Walt Disney Animation Studios (Hyperion rendering team)
My cloud photography appeared as the background sky in the Air Jordan XXXI launch spot “Runway,” featuring Russell Westbrook — debuted during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Agency: Wieden + Kennedy New York.
Five of my panoramic sky and sunset images were licensed by the creative/VFX studio Logan for Hyundai’s Elantra GT campaign, used as projected sky backdrops behind the vehicle.
Three of my cloud photographs were licensed for a national automotive brand’s 2024 all-media advertising campaign — forming the glowing sunrise sky at the commercial’s closing moment. One of several national brand campaigns to license the library. (Brand and agency available on request.)
My openly licensed sky catalog is circulated within rendering and visual-effects circles as a favored real-world cloud reference — the same quality that drew Disney Animation to it.
Beyond these campaigns, my photographs have appeared in dozens of independent art, theatre, film, and editorial projects — licensed directly or used freely under Creative Commons with attribution — reflecting 15+ years of open contribution to the wider creative community.
Licensing
Commercial licensing available. Proprietary, attribution-free licenses for advertising, film, broadcast, and other commercial use — tailored to media, territory, and term.
Open use: the public library is offered under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 (CC BY-SA 3.0) for editorial, educational, and non-commercial projects, with attribution.
Inquiries: use the contact form.
Sources & verification — Disney Animation Cloud Data Set license (CC BY-SA 3.0): media.disneyanimation.com/…/License_Cloud.pdf · “Disney Animation Data Sets,” Yining Karl Li: blog.yiningkarlli.com/2018/07/disney-animation-datasets.html · Reference photograph: coclouds.com/436/cumulus/2012-07-26/. Campaign license agreements and invoices available on request.