Chasing clouds
I’ll be the first to agree that I have been longing for a substantial snowfall for several years. However, I’ll also admit that our recent bout with a winter storm was far more than I had bargained for. In fact, I was more than eager for the return of more tolerable temperatures and dry roadways prior to the week’s end.
I am aware that we still have some cold nights ahead. But as we enter the beginning of March, I am also mindful that warmer temperatures are just around the corner. And with these warmer temperatures will come opportunities to experience some of my all-time favorite outdoor activities.
Of course, I’m anticipating that magical time when the white bass head upstream by the droves to spawn. And one can rest assured that I’ll spend as much time as possible on the water when the black bass begin fanning their nests.
But I also look forward to the rains that come with the arrival of spring, especially those that provide the perfect environment for lightning, especially at night.
And why might I wish for such volatile weather? Well, I recently set a few goals for the months to come. And if all goes as planned, I’ll be spending several nights capturing scenes of lightning dancing across the night sky.
So I grew excited when the recent forecast called for thunderstorms. I began gathering and loading gear prior to the arrival of the storms. And I was headed to a predetermined location shortly after I noticed faint flashes of light in the horizon and detected a distant thunder resonating from the night sky.
The cloud was obviously fast moving, and I was greeted by a heavy rain before reaching my destination. However, it was quickly becoming obvious that this particular cloud was loosing its intensity. In fact, the lightning that I had noticed in the distance had all but subsided.
I had looked at the radar just before leaving home, however, and it appeared that yet another storm was also headed in my direction.
That in mind, I donned my rain jacket, grabbed my gear and embarked upon a short brisk jaunt to a small pavilion. Confident my camera and lens would be protected from the rain, I secured my camera to the tripod and pointed the lens to the southwest.
I took the needed steps to level the camera body and rotated the lens barrel to ensure I could capture as large of a scene as possible. Manually focusing to infinity, I fine tuned the adjustments on the camera and attached my shutter release cable. Everything was set perfectly. The only thing left to do was wait.
And wait is exactly what I did. In fact, I stood beside my camera for more than 30 minutes without detecting a single strike. And just as I had begun to lose any hope, it happened — a sudden burst of light illuminated the sky.
But as luck would have it, the most active section of the cloud had already passed overhead, and the lightning strike was behind me. Digging my phone from my jacket pocket, I opened my favorite weather app. And sure enough the radar clarified what I had suspected. The cloud was to my north, and the distant storm heading in my direction was also losing intensity.
Loading my gear back into the camera bag, I took one last look at the radar prior to heeding back home. There were other storms nearing the state that might possible hold together until their arrival. But on the other hand, they were still several hours out, and it was probable that they to would also dwindle in strength.
That in mind, I chose to call it a night. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment during my journey back home
as I had failed to capture a single image.
But on the other hand, I was aware that the season when lightning is most prominent was still down the road. And I came to the conclusion that this was simply a practice run to prepare me for the storms that were sure to rumble across the state during the upcoming spring and summer.
I then began to ponder how photographing lightning shared similarities with other outdoor activities that I enjoyed. Not every outing would lend to success, and experience had taught me that without unsuccessful excursions, those magical seconds would not be remotely as precious.