Last Light – Sunday Afternoon
Storm clouds engulf the last remainders of clear sky.
storm
All posts tagged storm
February Thunderstorm – Cloud-to-Cloud
A powerful thunderstorm rolled through the area the night of February 24 – quite unusual, as was the general weather, for winter in Northeastern Ohio.
Lightning arcs in February Thunderstorm – Cloud-to-Cloud and Cloud to Ground in the same space of time!
The storm approached from the southwest and, as it rolled in it was dry at first. I set my camera up in a sheltered patio area and waited for the occasional flash of lightning. Then, as so often happens, rain started and drove me indoors.
Lightning arcs in February Thunderstorm Bursting forth and spreading along the underside of the cloud – a “crawler.” The crawler was weaker, not as bright, as other flashes.
There, thanks to a beautiful new picture window with excellent glass, I was able to continue the shoot from the dry safety of my living room! Unfortunately, most discharges were out of my line of sight or low to the horizon; I did, however, get a couple of decent images.
Sunset Towers – A storm builds in the light of the late-day sun.
UPDATE: A small giclée canvas print of this image was contributed to the annual “In the Pink” show and raffle hosted by Hudson Fine Art & Framing Company in Hudson, Ohio. Proceeds from the sale benefit The Gathering Place, a local organization; their mission is to support, educate, and empower individuals and families touched by cancers through programs and services provided free of charge. I am pleased to have been a part of the show and fundraising effort! For more information on The Gathering Place please visit www.TouchedByCancer.org.
This started out to be an excellent year for photography. In addition to my still work, I was preparing to make my first nature film. Then we decided to buy a house and move. I look back at this blog now and fully realize how fully I dropped my artistic efforts. Finding, buying, and preparing a poorly-maintained house took the balance of summer and, now, the best of autumn. I hope it will be worth it. I do want to share here a photo I have come to love: it is both realistic and dreamlike; it is my remembrance of the seasons passed.
Hot Shot: A Very Intense Bolt of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning
I enjoy photographing lightning. Most of the storms that visit this part of the country arrive with wind, rain, and then lightning and are too “wet” for me to shoot. Those storms that arrive “dry,” with lightning first, seem rare. We had two of those dry, photo-op storms recently. The first, on July 8, I documented here earlier. The second, the night of July 13, didn’t give me much time between its approach and the arrival of rain but did give me an excellent image. Appearances can be deceiving but the spectacular lightning bolt shown here may be the most powerful I’ve ever photographed. Before you say anything: yes, I am careful and shoot only from protected locations!
Moon and Jupiter, July 8.
The night of July 8 started out with my wanting to photograph the Moon and Jupiter together in the western sky. There they were, hanging in the dark with a wisp of cloud lending mystery to the scene. It was lovely.
Clouds Moving In, beginning to cover the Moon and Jupiter.
Then clouds began to obscure Luna’s bright crescent. Thicker and thicker came the clouds and then, above the horizon, clouds lit up with flashes and thunder rumbled… a thunderstorm was coming! I was expecting storms to arrive later but there I was, all set up and ready to record the show!
Mars and Stars – the View to the South
I looked to the south and not yet reached by the approaching weather was the beautiful sight of brilliant planet Mars and the stars of constellation Scorpius. Lovely to see but about to be upstaged!
Lighting up the Distant Clouds
I made a lot of exposures, mostly showing clouds illuminated by hidden lightning though after the fact I discovered there had been faint streaks in the open all along. Sometimes the whole sky seemed to light up.
The Whole Sky Lit Up
As the storm grew closer, the lightning grew more intense until nicely-placed lightning bolts appeared and I got my best shot of the night. Only moments after that final good exposure the wind grew and rain began to fall, forcing me indoors.
Shot of the Night – Double Bolts
Lake Erie Storm off Vermilion
A quick house hunting trip to Vermilion produced no new home June 6; it did, however, produce the opportunity to photograph a storm moving in across Lake Erie. I love the beautiful scenes the lake produces and that is, primarily, why living near the coast is something I think I’d like. Sun, clouds, and water are constantly changing and when a storm is involved those changes happen rapidly.
Against the Coming Storm
I (stupidly) didn’t have my DSLR gear with me but was carrying my trusty iPhone 6SE with its tiny but mighty internal camera. As winds rose, I was able to make a panorama of the lake scene (above) and a nice portrait of the Vermilion Lighthouse brightly popping against the darkening sky.
I’ll try and remember to bring the “big guns” with me from now on as we seek a new home out there, somewhere….
Canadian Storm Developed a Halo as it Weakened
I spent a happy, lazy morning watching a thunderhead bloom and disperse from the shores of Lake Erie. I’d seen a very photogenic cloud developing over my area earlier in the day but was not in a position to get a good shot — we’re at a high elevation here but there are obstructions everywhere blocking the view! So after grocery shopping I headed for the lakefront. As I drew closer to the lake, I could see there was an interesting cloud blowing up in the distance. Fortunately, the far away storm developed slowly, allowing me to reach the lake and even change location. I started out in Bay Village, and finished my vigil on the fishing pier in Avon Lake. As the storm began to weaken, it stretched out over the water and even developed a halo! Checking weather radar I learned the storm was all the way across Lake Erie on the southern shores of Canada! A pleasant morning of cloud watching indeed and why not, it’s Saturday, after all!
The Cloud I was Watching? It was a storm in Canada! (circled)
Peek-a-Boo Lightning
Time To Come In
My timing worked out perfectly again this evening! I had been watching on radar as an approaching line of storms ran along a cold front hoping for another opportunity for dramatic weather photography. On a hunch I climbed into the car after dinner and headed to the Lake Erie shoreline at Bay Village, Ohio. No sooner did I arrive at the parking lot and start the short hike to the shore than I spotted it… an amazing, thin line of clouds known as a gust front approaching from the west. I shot a good number of photos of the clouds but adding to the image was a man standing nearly waist-deep in the water as the weather approached. Yes, there was a little lightning and thunder and yes, he should have gotten out of the lake as his relative urged from the shore. Time to come in! Fortunately the wader escaped harm. Behind the gust front I could see the effects of the, well, gusts: the lake water was darkening as wind-driven waves formed. The rain, this time, did not drive me from my perch but had the courtesy to begin after I was safely back in my car.
Trophy Shot – Approaching Storm
I watched weather radar for several hours yesterday as a line of storms approached our area; it looked interesting. The line had a strong arc to it offering the possibility of photogenic afternoon storm clouds. So I headed to the Lake Erie shoreline and a view off Bay Village, Ohio. The drive was an adventure in itself as I encountered strong winds and heavy rains. I worried the cold front had arrived early and I might be out of luck but, I remembered, there was an intense, crescent-shaped storm out ahead of the line — driving through I should encounter dryer weather and a shot at the “real deal.” And so it was! As I approached the lake, I saw curved lines in the clouds overhead … lines that corresponded to shapes I could see on weather radar. I couldn’t stop to photograph those and so continued to my observation post. Hurrying down to waters’ edge, I saw an expansive arc of clouds stretching from the southwest to the northeast and out over the lake. Not a sharply-defined line as I might have hoped for but dramatic, nonetheless. I had time for a few single shots and a couple of groupings to be assembled into a panorama and had to run again … I could see a curtain of rain moving in! As I drove home through sheets of rain I smiled; timing and luck were with me today and I had my trophy shot of the day! P.S. – That’s not a tornado!
The Long Stormy Arc
PhotonStopper 