While recently checking and cleaning up some post drafts that I never got around to finishing or publishing, I found these photos I'd taken from the deck of our prior home in the mountains in Big Horn, WY one night in late June 2010. Why I never posted them I have no idea, except that I wasn't yet participating in SkyWatch Friday and we left on a 2-week Maine vacation three days after I took these. Anyway, these fell through the cracks and though it feels strange to post summer storm photos more than 2½ years old, I didn't want these to languish unshared any longer!
Though I may have forgotten about these photos, I remember the late-night storm itself very clearly. I perched my little point-and-shoot Kodak on the deck railing to hold it steady in the buffeting wind, used the night landscape setting, and then shot about 2,683 photos trying to capture the lightning illuminating the clouds. :-) The best photo op (though not the best photo) was the last one, when the clouds that had been hiding the full moon parted briefly, and I was able to capture the moon and the lightning and the clouds they both illuminated. I only wish a much better photographer with much better equipment had been there to truly capture this amazing storm...
Nice find,looks like it's no more neglected now.
ReplyDeleteYou must have been really, really determined to take your camera out into the storm like this. I specially like the middle photo.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! It is amazing the stunning beauty that nature can provide, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteLove your dramatic sky. It begs to be painted.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping and taking time to comment. Have a great week!
Whoa, those are some wicked looked storm clouds! I don't blame you for wanting to share them. They're really cool looking!
ReplyDeleteHas it been that long already since you took that trip?!? :o
Looks like a storm is brewing. Close the shutters. Get ready!
ReplyDeleteJM Illinois
Oh wow - so moody and dramatic and utterly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYou described it well: a perfectly amazing storm! Di did a great job capturing it! Also, I love your new pic profile:) Snapdragon? We must have similar personalities:):) (I think I removed mine, because I had too much on my sidebar)
ReplyDeleteWow!!! Beautiful skies!!! Very dramatic...love that you were able to capture the lightening!!!
ReplyDeleteThat was nice of you to remember the storm. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for digging these out of your lost files.....wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for resurrecting these. Amazing photos - no wonder you remember the storm.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic capture -- stunning is all I can say -- barbara
ReplyDeleteFantastic shots! Happy sky watching.
ReplyDeleteMy sky.
These shots are marvelous!. From SF. My entry is ftom: willyouhearfromme.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteBeautiful compositions of lights, tones with the sky full of poetry, exquisite.
ReplyDeleteLove a good storm! Especially the way the coming rain smells! Just beautiful - Thanks for posting these photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you to all you wonderful commenters for not neglecting my Neglected Storm post! :-)
ReplyDeleteLucy ~ I definitely was! I'm not sure anything except hail or lightning striking our property could have kept me from it, this storm was so amazing. I only wish I could have captured it better, because these photos really don't do it justice. The lightning was lighting up vast swaths of the sky - I wasn't even sure where to point my camera to wait for it, so basically it had to be whatever my camera captured while held on the deck railing.
Cadry ~Yes, and now and then she likes to remind us of her power, too, which is always a humbling experience. She's giving us a good dose of humble pie right now in the form of wind!
Elisabeth ~ I wish I possessed that talent, because I agree with you!
Molly ~ I know, can you believe it?? I'm so glad we went when we did, especially since Janet retired last year and so her wonderful vegan Elm Cottage B&B in Searsport is no more. (But we're still in touch and have an invitation to come visit, which we'd love to do again. So many places to go, too little time or money to do it with!)
Jesh ~ Thank you! And I'm glad you're liking my new avatar - just two weeks left for it and I'll have to scout out a new one again. :-) You're very good at noticing details! My friend Rose, the person who first alerted me to the Garden Flower profile quiz, was also a Snapdragon. Snapdragons rule! :-)
Chieftess ~ Me too! And it only took me hundreds of attempts before I captured that tiny example of it! LOL
veganelder, Spud and Ellie C ~ You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed seeing them!
Leovi ~ Thank you! The sky was full of energy as well as poetry - more full than I can describe or could adequately capture, I'm afraid. Never seen a storm like it since, though we get some doozies out here.
Bea ~ I'm sorry, your comment ended up in my spam folder for some reason! That's just wrong.
ReplyDeleteI love that "rain smell" too. I read several years ago that it's caused by plants releasing oils, but now I've also learned that bacteria spores in the soil release a wonderful scent that we associate with rain as well. There's nothing else like it, is there?
No worries! Interesting stuff where that delicious rain-aroma comes from. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteBea ~ You're very welcome! Thanks for returning to see my reply! (I wish Blogger allowed us to choose to be notified of follow-up comments like WordPress does. They used to several years ago. (I also wish they had a comment edit feature instead of "delete and start over" vs. "live with your stupid typos and look like an idiot!" LOL Anyway, glad you enjoyed that article! I thought it was interesting too.
ReplyDeleteholy crazy sky - i love it!
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely one worth coming back to! I liked the background you gave about why they never got posted and how you took them. It makes them all the more special.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression of the first photo was not of a storm but of a little glimpse of heaven. I half expect that a voice will come out of those glowing parts and make a monumental announcement! On the other hand, the third photo seems calm and serene. And the middle photo with the lightening strike is the only one to me that said storm. How funny that three photos all taken at pretty much the same time all evoked such different emotions for me!!
I was hoping you'd visit this one, as I thought you'd enjoy these photos! I'm glad you also enjoyed the little backstory.
DeleteYes, I could imagine a deep, booming, not-a-little-pissed-off, James Earl Jones sort of voice coming out of the clouds in the first photo! (It would have to have been booming to have been heard over the wind that night!) I was glad to capture at least one lightning bolt - they were flashing all over the place, but I only catch one by sheer luck and determination! And as you can see, most of the bolts were hidden and their flashes diffused by the thick clouds.
Still remembering well the roar of the wind and the loudness of the thunder, I have a hard time sharing your feeling of serenity from the last photo, except from the little patch of clear sky where the moon is! :-) But I really enjoyed reading your description of the varied moods these three photos evoked in you!
Yes, I'm sure that for you the photos evoke memories as well as feelings and the feelings would have to be connected to the memories! I'm glad I came back to this one too!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I really do like this new comment format where your replies are right under my comment!
ReplyDeleteSo do I! :-)
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