Last night, lightning started flashing to the southwest shortly after midnight. I walked out onto my porch, it looked promising, so I got my gear together and drove to a likely location to set up. By this time the storm was too close for me to get out of the car safely, so I shot through the open window, with tripod braced on the passenger seat and cable release to lock the mirror up before each long exposure.

It was a perfect prairie storm: no rain, lots of forking, snaky charges flashing across the sky, and never directly overhead. Sitting in my car gave the illusion of safety. Most summers I get at least a few opportunities to shoot storms like this, but although we've had a lot of rain this year, this was my first photographable thunderstorm.

Btw my trip is still on. People are going to think I'm a liar or an idiot, having already said goodbye. Well, I'm not a liar. But yesterday I noticed there was a slight difference between the calendar in my head and the one on my kitchen wall, and in fact I'm not leaving until Tuesday :-)

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2019 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   lightning thunderstorm night sky dramatic drama flash boom electrical storm stormy stormy weather wild prairie lightning strike danger dangerous powerful force natural force force of nature Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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We have had some furious storms over the past week. Two nights ago at 11 pm I saw flashes on the horizon, and drove out to Newton Lake, hoping for some interesting reflections in the water. It was pitch black. I locked the focus during a bright burst, and guessed at the horizon line (straightened later in CS6). After that it was a matter of waiting for the next strike, hoping it would come within my frame. At this point the strikes were happening over nearly 180 degrees of horizon, so it was mostly guesswork. I stayed inside my car.

I'm very aware of the danger. Everyone here knows somebody who was killed by lightning. Cows get hit, too. One rancher talks about finding four cow hooves in one corner of his pasture, and the body 75 feet away. When this storm got too close for comfort, I rolled up my window and drove home.

Photographed at Newton Lake, near Val Marie, Saskatchewan. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2016 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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Last night we were treated to a distant, passing thunderstorm. I saw the sky lighting up around 10:30, grabbed my gear and drove out along the Newton Lake Road, northwest of Val Marie (Saskatchewan). Newton Lake is a large reservoir created by a dam on the Frenchman River, and serves as irrigation water for farmers and ranchers downstream.

It was a fairly safe storm to shoot, passing by at a distance, never coming close, and it gave me a chance to try out my new Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens. I had a manual version of this lens years ago, but lost it. The new one seems just as sharp as the one I remember, and only costs four times as much ($250 vs $65).

Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission.
© James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   thunderstorm lightning bolt strike flash boom electrical dangerous night landscape wild prairie sky road Newton Lake Frenchman River Saskatchewan Canada

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