It’s true, the highlights in the clouds are blown out, there is a lack of detail there.  But it doesn’t bother me at all, and it also doesn’t bother me if it bothers you.  I’m more interested in why it bothers you.

Is it me, or are fewer and fewer photographers using tripods these days?

It’s critical, in my opinion, to invest as much effort in composing the background of an image as is invested in composing the foreground.

I’m not sure I agree with the idea that “all art constantly aspires to the condition of music.”  For me, much of the appeal of visual arts such as photography is precisely that they introduce likenesses of real and tangible things.

If photography is the art of subtraction, then I think my interests are leaning more and more towards less realism in my work.