Storm To The West
Just the other night I was cursing the storm that grounded my son's flight and cost him a whole day of the short time remaining of his leave from the war in Iraq. Last night, with him back home again, I found the time to enjoy the beauty of nature in its full glory. Storms can be beautiful to witness under the right circumstances. I had no where better to be, and could view the storm from a safe distance. A hole in the clouds relected a brilliant sunset and reassured the residents that there were blue skies close at hand.
Storm To The East
I have been trying to capture a good shot of lightning for a year now but the majority of the times I am prevented by the rain. Last night I was fortunate to have the opportunity to witness the storm from a distance before the clouds opened up above me. Unfortunately I have reflexes as quick as sludge. I only caught this bolt because my husband was able to tell me when to click the shutter. I used a lower shutter speed and aperture setting to lighten the exposure and catch some of the fore ground. When I loaded the pictures on the computer later I discovered, much to my delight, the reason behind the absence of my pelicans. They had moved from the Pelican Pond and were now taking up residence at the Reservoir. (that's them just above the right side of the sandbar).
As for my storm photography, well, I still need a LOT of work on getting my settings and exposures right. But I wasn't disappointed with last night's shoot for the storm had led me to my old friends. Finally, summer had truly arrived for me. The pelicans, the birds of summer, had returned.
10 comments:
Wow, what great photos! I've been trying to capture lightning, too, but no luck. Love the shots and the entry :)
Erika
Congrats and good storm captures! The bolt shot has intensity to it!
Tess
Nice catch. It's also a very dramatic photo. I like how the overall blue tint to the picture makes the ground echo the sky.
Most photographs of lightning are caught with very long exposures. The camera is put on a tripod, the shutter is opened, and the held open until a strike occurs. Of course that's much easier to do in full dark. When there is still some daylight, that would end up over exposing the picture.
-Paul
Yes...I think they're GREAT photos too...you are quite hard on yourself!
Nancy
Oh beautiful images. When you find out the right settings for lightening let me know.
Betty
Dorn,
Beautiful images! It is shots like this that illustrates why "perfect weather" means something different for photographers. You can sure find some great lighting around a storm. As luck would have it, I'm never near my camera when these types of events come around. Glad you were! and thanks for sharing.
Greg
Beautiful pics...
be well,
Dawn
Great shots of the storm. I'm so glad your pelicans have returned to see you! I've been posting a lot of pics in my journal of the sky and sunsets in the UK over the past couple of days. I love to photograph the sky as it's constantly changing. Jeannette xx
You have captured some great moments. I can almost smell the air! I would like to add your link to my sidebar. Smiles, David
It must have been a great joy to have the time spent with your son. The first photo has just as intense a sky as possible. The second one with the lightning bolt and to see the specks of the pelicans is absolutely a great photo. mark
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