Weekly Photo Challenge: Work of Art

I am finally all caught up with the weekly photo challenges! This photo is from May 11th (Mother’s Day) which not only treated me to a beautiful evening storm with lightning but fog in the morning! This photo was taken by hand using my car window ledge as a “stabilizer”; The settings were iso 400, 24mm length, f/7.1 shutter 6 seconds. I enhanced it a bit in a couple of photo programs, but the scene is so painterly it looks like an old masters painting to me. (Maybe I should use this as my art submission for the fair?) The light sources are an interesting combination of the moon in the clearing sky and the lightning in 2 spots. Below is another one that has cloud only lightning (iso 400,  60mm length, f/5, 3 seconds) followed by a morning fog photo. What a beautiful day and night! Best gift ever. Although brunch with my kids was pretty darn great too!!

Interested in the Weekly photo challenge?    http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/work-of-art/

Oh What a Night!

I headed out last evening because the clouds were gorgeous.  I had also intended to shoot the moon, haha, no really, so off I went, camera in hand. Nothing else though, I was in too much of a hurry to make sure I had my damn glasses or a tripod. After stopping at a few spots for the clouds and seeing a dark storm north of me, I went to the top of the Alum Creek Dam. The storm was just north and wasn’t going too fast. I usually don’t go on the dam during a storm, because it is high and you are never really close to your car. But I parked as close to the stairs (all 104 of them…) and went to the top. The dark seemed far enough away to give me time to get to the car if it headed south. After I caught my breath, I had about an hour to kill before the moon was to show. But the storm hung around, the clouds were exciting and the lightning started a spectacular show. I sat down on the ground so I wouldn’t be the highest object there, and steadied my camera as best I could on my knee, braced with my chin. A tripod would have been nice, who knew I’d be taking 1-2 second long shots? I did see a bit of the moon, but the fun was all in the storm. I shot until my memory card ran out, deleted some and shot some more. My lack of glasses tested my knowledge of the settings, but considering my set up, I am very happy with the outcome. It never rained, never got fierce. I was not the only person up top. And I didn’t get zapped. Out of over 900 photos taken these were my favorites. I hope you enjoy them! It was just heavenly being there.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting

Yes, I am playing catch-up again! School is out, fun is happening, things are getting done. It is hard to find the time to blog. But, it is always a priority in my heart. And I am still taking photos, always, as much as possible. For my “Fleeting” photos: some pigeons in flight, the edge of a big storm and some lightning, and from yesterday, a trip to the conservatory and its butterflies! Woo!

Part II: Wish I had a Lightning Safety Suit and an Armored Car

No, this is not the greatest lightning photo ever. BUT, I was happy to get this! Sitting in my car, hand holding the camera resting on the window ledge, on the long exposure setting. No tripod/lightning rod, no cable release, and the mirror wasn’t locked up. It’s a little fuzzy from movement of my hands and me breathing, and maybe the mirror movement. A couple of other times lighting occurred but didn’t register on the shots. I played around with the settings, lowered the ISO to 100 and made the aperture at 22. The shutter was open 5 seconds. The rest of my attempts totally stink. So yea! At least I got this one. Now if I had my safety suit I could really go for it, tripod and all!