Oops, I did it again...

Last night was quite a night for thunderstorm activity.  We had a storm pulse up suddenly to our east and actually move over our house.  Frequent cloud to cloud and cloud to ground lightning was popping all around us.  As the storm moved to our west, it really got inflamed, and the lightning became constant. Suddenly, another cell initiated to our east, so we literally had it popping on either side of us.

With the frequency, I couldn't help but try my hand at shooting some.... yes, again.  Realize that I do not have many good angles from my house.  There is the west view, which has a line of VERY TALL trees about 100 yards in front of us.  There is the north view with yet another line of very tall trees about the same distance away.  The east view, where our shed and the neighbors house block my view and trees beyond that and then finally, the south view... house, tree.  It's a storm chasers nightmare of home placement.  Oh, how I would love to live on an open field with a wonderful view of all angles. 

Clearly, I am not geographically placed well for shooting lightning from the abode, and until I really nail down my technique and get a remote for shooting, I am not venturing out to a field like some chasers I know (who get great shots, by the way).  I am just not there yet. 

As the storm was east, I scurried into my sunroom to shoot from there... through the opened screen door, which kept slamming shut on me, and the rain was pouring in and covering my camera... no good.  As it moved west, I chased it to the front porch, but I couldn't really get any good bolts... the storm was immediately overhead and most was cloud to cloud lightning at this point. 

When thunder roars, go indoors.  

So... I went into my garage for the more open northward view.  Technically, I was indoors... with a really large door open right beside me.  I didn't get any shots and the storm had moved further west, so back to the porch I trudged. AND, I got one!!

He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. Job 36:32

I love the detail of this CG lightning strike.  I love how it webs out.  This photograph is untouched (hence the water droplets on the lens).  The corner is the edge of my front porch.  The view is to the southwest, where a local said they heard a thunderclap so loud that they thought their windows would burst.  As far as technique, I am still not where I want to be with my lightning photography, but I think that will require me stepping out into some scenery and getting away from the trees.

Until next time,
~Dewdrop

YOU are a STORM CHASER?!

I have to admit, it is quite the conversation starter.

"YOU are a STORM CHASER!?!"

I think if I were geographically located in the plains somewhere, it would be a bit less shocking, but being in south Georgia, I get quite the reaction. I often joke that I am geographically misplaced.

"You mean, you actually go out looking for tornadoes?!"

Well. Sort of.  I started back in 2006, shadowing a local storm chaser, learning everything I could about severe weather.  I started this blog, and I started connecting with storm chasers throughout the United States.  I made some great friendships in the process and learned so many tricks of the trade.  I really have enjoyed getting to know people who share the same passion for weather as me.  It's an interesting community, full of its own little soap opera-like drama.  We have this thing in common though that causes us to converge.

I actually had a great opportunity to chase in the plains in 2007 with the Twister Sisters, Peg and Mel. We were actually shooting a storm chasing reality show, so I got an all expenses paid ride where we went out to chase a high risk, potentially dangerous situation... and missed the one tornado (a high risk with a total of two tornadoes that whole day) by about 20 minutes.  We had just left the Badlands that June 7th. Talk about bummed.  Leave it to the Dewvoid to kill a high risk day.  I was actually jokingly threatened by local storm chasers to be shipped to Hawaii to keep from killing their storms.  My bad.

I love weather.  I love everything about it.  I am drawn to it from deep within, and I don't really understand that.  We actually discussed it on that same trip, at one point while driving somewhere between South Dakota and Iowa.  What is it about storms that seems to lure us in like a moth to a flame?  Are we just crazy?

Storms are destructive and unpredictable and DANGEROUS!! 

Seriously, what is wrong with me that I would be interested in pursuing something that I could truly describe as deadly??

The easy answer... I don't really know.

Some locals here might eloquently say it like this...

"SHE AIN'T RIGHT."

But... I know that when I look at the sky as it churns angrily above me, I am mesmerized.   I find myself almost lost in it, watching it as it dimples and dips and draws in moisture and climbs to amazing heights while it's rolling and swirling and blasting me with forceful winds and launching electrical strikes.  

I am in awe.
I am mystified.
I am drawn to its striking beauty.
I am seeing something that is truly out of my control and completely in God's sovereign hands, and I love it.

As a recovering control freak, I think that last part might be a huge part of it.  I am not in control, and God is.  I somehow find rest in that.  I find hope in that.  I find courage and strength in that.  I am drawn to that which is way out of my hands, that is so much bigger than me or anything I can pretend to control.  It gives me peace to let the storm be the storm and me be the one in awe of it.

That's why I chase... I think.

Have a super fantastic day!
~Dewdrop