Yesterday I experienced a storm. Not just any storm, but of a magnitude I've not seen in years, maybe even a decade.
The first lightnings I missed, because I couldn't find my lightning trigger anywhere. Well, luckily, after a half an hour searching, I located it. But then the cell had already died.
But, the day was far from over. A lot stronger storm was approaching. I drove some ten miles to meet it and it was... Beautiful.
A panorama made from six pictures:
And then.
This is a photo I've been wanting to take for years. Also a panorama made of 5-7 frames:
I photographed the approaching cloud until it started to rain. I ran to my car, that I had to park next to a field.
The anvil crawlers stretched across the sky, so I changed to a 14mm lense.
After the storm, beautiful mammatus -clouds appeared.
Dam !!!
You got some great shots...Don't get much in the way of storms here, I'd like to see them more often but wouldn't want to be in the middle of one. Again, excellent shots. That one big overhanging cloud is a spooky one.
chez wrote:
That first image is just an amazing shot. Hope you had shelter close by.
Thanks!
Well, I didn't exactly have a shelter. I did go in my car for a brief moment. Other than that, I was under the sky. Wet, cold and shaking, both from getting cold and excitement.
Last month I felt a strange feeling when a lightning struck nearby. It was like my skin shook. A bit like goosebumps, but not quite. The lightning struck about 800 yards away. That scared me seriously good. That was the second time a lightning hit close enough for me to feel it. The first time was perhaps too close encounter. I got a little shock. My left arm was numb for a day. The flash was somewhere 300 yards from me, so really about one fifth of the distance that I feel is safe.
As I said, it's been years of waiting something like this. Here in Finland you don't get too many thunderstorms yearly. And out of those, maybe one or two decent ones.
Here's yet another one from that evening. These crawlers happened after the storm passed.
Man that is some storm cloud in the first image! You are one brave soul to photograph with all of those lightning strikes popping overhead. Great work and great images!
Starfire8 wrote:
Man that is some storm cloud in the first image! You are one brave soul to photograph with all of those lightning strikes popping overhead. Great work and great images!
David
Thanks!
Yes, it was scary. But exciting! It really is a ride. The smell of the approaching rain, the flashes, the roar of the thunder... Then the eerie sound of approaching hail and rain... A feast for the senses.
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