Thunder over the strip
Thunderstorms building over west Las Vegas
Thunderstorms building over west Las Vegas
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Oct, 2015Views
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Awards
Chatter Award
Contest Finalist in Wicked Weather Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
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stephencoppinger
January 26, 2016
Fantastic image - jealous! But the line of houses dipping to left is driving me bonkers as the image is tipping over
K-Ban
January 31, 2016
This is an awesome photo!. But if you don't mind me suggesting, crop just above the neighborhood leaving the mountians and the clouds. See what that looks like,
PRO+
PRO+
V1mage
April 28, 2016
Excellent capture, reallycrazykiwi. And it shows that it pays to always have an umbrella handy.
moturner
July 11, 2016
Ah, excuse me but I'm I the only one who can see a face looking into the light? Great capture.
Platinum
thedorianmonster
October 02, 2016
Those are some serious clouds! Great job pushing the horizon far to the bottom of the frame, but keeping the houses there to add a sense of placement.
Txpixelpixie
March 24, 2017
I love this! So dramatic! The clouds and mountains ..awesome. The mountains & tiny glimpse of the neighborhood with THESE clouds makes me stare in awe and imagine myself walking out on to my porch and seeing THAT...AMAZING!!!!
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Behind The Lens
Location
This shot was taken from Summerlin in the western part of the Las Vegas valley , NV ... I had planned to go up into the canyons that day but the storms rolling in made getting there impossible because of surface flooding and flash flood dangers inside the canyons themselves , so i had to settle with trying to find a vantage point from inside the suburban line without too much construction in the foreground that could show the scale of how high the storms built too by comparing them to the mountain ranges inside Red Rock canyon ..Time
This shot was taken in the afternoon and was one of many i took as the sky at midday was clear and then these storms just grew from a clear blue sky ..Lighting
The lighting was tricky for me as the contrast was extreme , behind me was clear blue sky , above was bright white high cloud and in front was really dark menacing clouds and the horizon was very dark with heavy rain .. i had to under expose because where the sun light broke through was being blown out and so i was left trying to find an exposure level that i felt i could then retrieve detail from the shadows in post , the wind had the storms moving so fast that everything was changing so fast ..Equipment
I have a very old heavy steel tripod , 30 years old , and i put a few diving weights on it also for more stability as the wind coming out the front of these storms was very very strong . My Canon 7d , and my canon 50 mm 1.8 as it has the lowest profile and the least surface area for the high winds to catch of the lenses i own .. I took my filters of as it was so dark i was trying to let as much light in as possible to make the depth of field as deep as i could ..Inspiration
I Love to storm watch , and in particular these storms are amazing to watch esp how quickly they build and then dump huge sheets of water and then dissolve back into the desert sky all in the matter of a few hoursEditing
I did my post in LR and spent some time trying to recover detail without increasing noise or losing too much sharpness , i was disappointed i couldn't keep the noise down on the horizon , but when i look back at the RAW image it shows how dark those areas were .. The 50 mm is fun but it is not in the same league as the other lens i have for sharpness ..In my camera bag
Back when i took this i had my Canon 7D MK 1 , a canon 50 mm 1.8 and a Tamron 70-200 2.8 non VR ... This was the extent of my kit , along with my tripod and a few cleaning accessories .. I often like to take just one lens with me , depending on whether i feel like carrying either the heavy 70-200 or the lighter 50 mm and i challenge myself be creative with whatever i see with the gear i have , i enjoyed having to think outside the box when it comes to working out a way to get the photo i want .. Today i now shoot with a Nikon D 810 and are building a stable of the standard lenses , but i still like to go out for a day and just take one lens and find ways to be creative ..Feedback
Weather apps are very helpful for storm and weather photos , they are so helpful with trying to predict where they will start to build and where they will track , and topographical maps help you to know where to be to show their scale and power by using foreground objects by lining up objects using maps and radar ... A good tripod , and some extra low profile weight to help stabilize because if you are in front of these storms the wind will be strong .. Minimal gear , once they start their is not much time to start trying to change lenses or muck around with accessories and once the really heavy winds and rain get there , so you don't want to be changing things at this point .. You also need to constantly be checking your lens for dust and debris , these storms carry lots of dust , so a good air pump or dust brush otherwise you will be removing lots of dust spots of in post .. And you just have to keep going out , the hit rate for great shots is low , often the storms never materialize , or they don't build where you are , or you are too close , or too far away , so the more you go out the better chance you have to be in the right place at the right time ..
