Beth’s challenge this week is “Stormy.” A great theme – I love storms: thunder and lightning, lots of noise, torrential rains. Storms make me feel close to nature in a very elemental way. Truth be told, I rarely photograph storms. For one thing, I don’t photograph in rain. I guess that’s a phobia I’ve had for years. But I love seeing storms from a distance, especially with dramatic, tempestuous skies. The greatest storm clouds that I’ve been able to photograph have been over the southwestern high desert – itself a dramatic locale and a favorite of mine. The featured image above is such a photograph, aptly titled “Storm Clouds Over the High Desert.” It was photographed in Arizona.
Here is another Arizona storm sky.
This image, featuring a sky as dramatic as the landscape, was photographed in New Mexico. The dark cloud to the left of the image is dropping its share of rain.
Storm clouds often come with dark moody landscapes. This image was also photographed in New Mexico. It surely looks ominous. There’s electricity in the air. Will it rain?
Finally, a scene photographed in west central California.
Shameless Confession: This image is an edit. The original is to the right. Besides converting to B&W, I modified the sky, edited exposure and tonalities to make the overall scene more “stormy,” and added the rain.
The scene is Los Banos, California, where the Central Valley ends and the Coastal Range begins.
Shameless Plug: The “original ” here is itself an edit. It’s from a series of images for the “One Four Challenge,” also called “One Photo Four Ways.” The series this image is from is here. Each month, we select one image and then explore four different interpretations or approaches to editing. The current series – in progress – is here. Leanne Cole also does the One Four Challenge. Her current series is here. The reason for the plug? We would really like more people to join us in the One Four Challenge. It’s fun and a great way to learn new techniques and develop new ideas! More information here.
That’s my offering this week. Many thanks to Beth for a great challenge – and congratulations for her first! If you would like more information on the Lens Artists Challenge, go here.
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