Friday, July 19, 2013

Midsummer Storm at the Spirit Tree




















Yesterday throughout the day and all through last night we experienced one incredible thunderstorm after another.  Some particulars from the weather warnings throughout the day: 70 MPH winds, possible golf-ball size hail, heavy rainfall and flood advisories.  To top it off the power was out for most of the night as well.  We ended up with anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of rain, depending on where the measurement was taken.  The Pigeon River in Grand Portage State Park went from a discharge rate of roughly 4,000 gallons per second yesterday morning to about 28,000 gallons per second today.  The storms also produced the best lightning show that we've seen so far this year.

As day turned to night I couldn't resist the light show that was going on all over in the sky.  I ended up spending about two and a half hours standing on the Lake Superior shoreline trying to capture photos of the lightning.  I went down to the Spirit Tree, which is not far from my home.  I've always wanted to capture a "knock your socks off" photo of lightning behind the tree (similar to a shot that my dad captured on slide film years ago), but the photo I dream of still eludes me.  I am getting closer, however.  Last night's storms yielded my best results yet at photographing lightning behind the tree.  The photo you see here is the result of two hours of standing in the rain trying to capture the perfect bolt of lightning while thunder rumbled all around me.  It was definitely one of the most uncomfortable periods of time I've ever spent outside with my camera, but an effort that I consider worthwhile when I view this image. 

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