Last night was looking good for reasonable thunderstorms in our area. Actually, the whole south half of the province. They looked to not be full of hail and ridiculous winds but news reports said there were some exceptions where smaller areas got hit hard. However, I got it in my head to go storm chasing as I watched, via radar, a system coming our way since before I began preparing supper.
After we were done eating I packed up my gear and headed to a satellite located place south of us just outside the city. The system appeared when I estimated from the radar but dissipated just before reaching me. Another was visible to the west so I drove about 7kms toward the river and directly under this unbelievable, beautiful, cloud bank.
I threw my camera on the tripod, prepared myself for the onslaught of mosquitoes and opened the side door. The whine in the air was no longer just from the typical ringing in my ears. It grew in volume and pitch as a myriad of mosquitoes swarmed in. I fired off frame after frame just hoping the milliseconds between photos would not be the time that bolt would jump between the ground and cloud. I was ready to give up as my insanity slipped closer to the edge all the while saying to myself, “Just one strike. Suck it up. Just one.” Finally, I caught a bolt, shut the door, put my camera in my bag, tossed the tripod on the back seat and fired up the van. In less than 2 minutes I got about 12 mosquito bites all for the mediocre photo below. Good thing there’s an entertaining story to go with it.
Both windows down, side windows open, vent fan on full, I hurried back mostly on the roads I took west to until I found the city and got home. The whole drive home, and even getting into the house from the still infested van, I felt like John Candy running from the bald bear.
Monday’s sunrise was unbelievably beautiful; I missed it. But it did motivate me to go back to my beginnings of photography on Tuesday. Here are the shots from this not too shabby God-given sunrise. The warm -3 degrees Celcius weather made it easy to venture out that morning.
Date Shot: August 23, 2009 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: A much cooler summer than usual made for fewer thunderstorms. This one came nicely past our back yard to my pleasure.
Date Shot: April 30, 2007 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: Another beautiful set of heavenly rays were emerging from the clouds and I took the pictures to create the panoramic before our Bible study group met that evening.
Date Shot: December 4, 2006 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: A crisp December morning found me at the Southeast corner of Saskatoon patiently awaiting the rising sun. The snow covered bails dotting the field reminded my wife of a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and milk hence the name I chose.
Date Shot: November 20, 2006 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: One of my more beautiful sunsets captured from the balcony of our condominium on the East side of the city.
Date Shot: July 27, 2008 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: It was a gorgeous storm but the sky had that pink, sodium vapor street light look we often get in winter with snow on the ground. The clouds had multiple layers and I was surprised to see the results on my camera when I got home.
Date Shot: September 25, 2006 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: A chilly Fall evening brought a late season thunderstorm presenting Saskatoon with a gorgeous light show that I was able to enjoy and capture a few bolts of lightning from the balcony of our condo. My mom thought this shot looked like two people dancing hence the name.
Date Shot: September 25, 2006 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: A chilly Fall evening brought a late season thunderstorm presenting Saskatoon with a gorgeous light show that I was able to enjoy and capture a few bolts of lightning from the balcony of our condo.
Date Shot: September 10, 2006 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: This cloud bank hung in the same spot in the sky for a long time and produced some beautiful rays of light from the descending late summer sun.
Date Shot: July 24, 2006 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: My most articulate sunset. The rays of light that played among the multiple layers of cloud before a significant thunderstorm rolled in seemed to change every few seconds.
Date Shot: April 16, 2006 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Notes: One of my first sunsets, the silhouette of the trees tickled the light from the sinking sun that reflected off the wavy clouds.
I'm a philanthropic photographer enthusiastic about projects that aide people who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford a photographer's services. The scope of my work is diverse but I am most passionate about the use of artificial lighting to maximize the impact of my photos.
