Lightning Tree 

Photography Adventure - Lightning Storm

It's a good thing that Tuesday night is 35 cent wing night and buy one get one on appetizer after 10 pm at Buffalo Wild Wings. That kept us out late so we saw the storm hit on our way home. It was great. Lightning blasted across the sky so the "chase" was on. I shot home, loaded up equipment and went looking for a great spot. All the while the storm raged. I had the spot in mind. Last Sunday I took the long way to Arnold by mistake, and along the way I noticed a clearing for a new subdivision, with one massive impressive tree left standing. I wanted that tree in this lightning shot. The only bad part was that it was midnight, very dark, and the rain was coming down in droves over my car. So visibility was pretty bad. I had to drive slow but that wasn't a problem because I seemed to be the only one out in the storm that night. Eventually I found the tree, and parked across the street, far enough away for my wide angle to get the tree in and enough of the sky to catch a bolt or two. Now the hard part. Rolling down the window without damaging the gear. I had to wait for the hail to stop, luckily there was only a little of that. Then I set up the camera in the middle of the car, extended the lens enough to see past the window frame, and let my seat get wet, but not the camera. Using bulb mode I kept shooting loooonggggg exposures. At some points the rain was lighter than others, and when it started pouring extremely hard I rolled up the window and took some shots through the side window (stop cringing). The odd thing is of all the shots I got one through the window added another dimension to the shot that made it more interesting.

geopic

North Park Rowing team supporting fellow racers 

Jim, the Cyclops 

8 person shell 

Coach and teams 

Mom with lunch. 

Baby Great Horned Owl 

Mom and Baby. Although the baby is almost as big as mom, she is still a fuzz ball.  

Life in the Fast Lane, and in a Tree

Mark Twain's, "Life on the Mississippi" will teach you a few things about river boats and boating lanes. A Sunday at Creve Coeur Lake with some photographer friends will teach you about shell racing. At least I think that is what my learned colleague, Pat Romano, told me those long boats are called. Regardless of what they are called it is exciting to see teams of rowers racing across the lake. Here are a few pics from the day's events. My favorite spot was on the bridge overlooking the teams as they exited and entered the staging area. A wide angle lens helped to get the long boat and the wide oars into view.

On another day a hike in the woods with a naturalist brought us to the base of a tree supporting this Great Horned Owl family. From the ground my aging eyes didn't see the blood soaked talons of the mother owl, but later review of the pictures revealed the ugly side of nature that my 400 mm image stabilized lens saw. I look forward to displaying and selling these and other wildlife and nature prints at the Wings of Spring fair in West Alton Illinois on April 28 and 29th. Be sure to stop by to visit my booth and get some of my autographed 8x10 prints. I'll also have post cards available, and will take orders for larger prints. As an added treat, I'll have available the autographed copies of the recently released book, "Beneath the Big Muddy" a fiction novel by Teresa Cummings (and me as cameo author), that entwines the Piasa legend, wildlife photography, wildlife smuggling, and an earth shattering natural disaster. Come see us at the wildlife preserve (Army Corps of Engineers building) just past the Fisca gas station on the West (Missouri) side of the Clark bridge.

It's spring time and now is a great time to spend that tax refund on your favorite hobby. If you'd like a new camera or accessories, be sure to stop by our little store, Creve Coeur Camera in South County on Telegraph road in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and ask for me, Kathy Denton. If I'm not there any one of the staff will be happy to help you out.

Coming soon: Medium Format adventures.