Being a Coloradoan, I fully understand that we live in a desert climate. The weather can sometimes be dry with little rain and hot and muggy with clear blue skies. Winters can be harsh and unforgiving with heavy snow fall, bitter cold temperatures and heavy wind. For a few months out of the year we get wonderful monsoon weather that rolls through. Many may not agree but I like to take advantage of the beautiful pictures I can capture during this time.
There are heavy rains that remind you of the Pacific Northwest. Cumulus clouds stack up over the eastern plains that rise far above the flight patterns causing heavy rain along with static electricity. Colorado has some of the most amazing lighting storms that can leave you speechless. Being a photographer, it was my goal to capture a shot of one of these lightning storms
I worked on figuring out how to properly shoot lightening with the challenges of heavy rain, high winds and low light. As I chased these amazing storms that rolled over the landscape, I was left disappointed as I was unable to get the shot I envisioned. Coming close but never being able to get what I set out to shoot.
A few weeks ago, we had a fantastic lightening storm come through. It had already been a long day; my spirits were not high nor did I have high ambition that I would capture anything. But I packed up my family anyway and chased the storm. I drove around for what seemed like forever missing my shot as I scoured looking for the perfect background.
I managed to find two great points of interest among the lightening of an old John Deer tractor and a Center pivot with a beautiful corn field. I jump from the car, grabbed the tripod and camera set my focal point and depth of field, watch the view finder for that first strike working to find a good exposure point.
My tripod is set, camera level, remote controller in hand, deep breath along with a pep talk in my head. “Please let this be the year I get this shot,” I tell myself. As I hold my breath, click, you hear the shutter and no strike. Repeat over and over again, hoping for that moment to be perfect. The most frustrating part would always be exposure is perfect but no movement in the camera or the strike would be far right, left or dead center, all of the places you didn’t want.
But then the perfect moment, a massive burst of light and I have my reference point for exposure. Over the top of the old tractor set at an F 8.0, ISO 100, 30 sec. exposure I managed to capture what I had waited for all those years. My perfect shot I’ve shared with you can be seen in our Landscape Gallery.