Storm over San Francisco Peaks, Arizona
Dark, heavy thunderstorm over the Peaks. Taken from the east side of the Peaks, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
Dark, heavy thunderstorm over the Peaks. Taken from the east side of the Peaks, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
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Jun, 2017Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
![March 1, 2018. This was my first effort to line up this shot using The Photographer's Ephemeris [Web app - thephotographersephemeris.com]. Appare](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/05/77818511_widepreview400.webp)
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Behind The Lens
Location
Frankly - I'm not sure this photo merits the honor. Any artistic content or composition is purely fortuitous. This was taken near Flagstaff, AZ (USA). I was on the east side of the San Francisco Peaks, looking west toward the Peaks. This was 30-some years ago; this image was scanned from a photographic slide (probably Ektachrome).Time
As I recall, it was early- to mid-afternoon on a summer day. In the American Southwest, summer monsoonal thunderstorms are frequent in the afternoon.Lighting
The lighting - like most aspect of this photo - was fortuitous. The sun on a summer afternoon would normally be very bright and nearly overhead, resulting in flat lighting. But in this case, the intense thunderstorm blocked the direct sun, and indirect light reflected off surrounding clouds resulted in a multi-directional light that provided good modelling of the various shapes, with no shadows. I probably spot-metered on the grass to the left of the fence to obtain the correct exposure (clouds were too dark, yellow flowers too bright).Equipment
This was shot with a Pentax KS, a manual-exposure film camera, with a 50mm normal lens. It was handheld, with no artificial lighting.Inspiration
This is the embarrassing and lucky part. I actually took this shot as a slide for my biology profession. I had recently graduated with a degree in plant ecology. A standard technique of ecological documentation is photos of "fence-line contrasts." A photo showing two sides of a fence - one grazed, the other un-grazed - can show the effects of grazing on vegetation. My only interest in the approaching storm was to get a photo before the rain hit. I did not realize until a VB member pointed it out that it also displays the photo composition elements of converging lines: The fence and the road - parallel - converge in the distance, just where they intersect a bright horizontal stripe. Maybe I was unconsciously using my photographer's eye for composition. I certainly was using my photographer's eye when, many years later, I recognized it as worthy of uploading to VB. I think I was mostly thinking of the contrast between light and dark, and between yellow and dark violet. Plus the aspect of violent nature seen in the dark thunderstorm. An additional lucky element of Nature was the broad bright stripe - one small rift in the clouds allowed a small line of direct sunlight to hit the ground, as can be seen from the one lit Ponderosa pine toward the right end.Editing
I have nearly always composed by "rule of thirds." The original slide was pretty well composed. But I cropped a bit off the bottom (for greater emphasis on the stormy sky) and a bit off the right side (to put the one visible peak on the thirds-intersection, and to emphasize the road-fence lines). I added some "clarity" to bring out variations in the clouds; this is one of my most-used editing steps. Try it on clouds. And I added some "luminosity" noise reduction, to reduce noise in the dark cloud areas. There is still a lot of noise - a characteristic of slides.In my camera bag
When I switched to digital cameras, I stuck with Pentax to use some of my old lenses. I initially used a Pentax K-50 (cropped sensor) but recently bought a Pentax K-1 Mii (full-frame). I keep a "knock-about" all-purpose zoom on each, for quick grab shots (27-200mm effective). But I carry 50mm normal, 28mm wide-angle, a Pentax 100mm Macro, and a 70-300mm lenses. [My lens choices are still affected by my old film-camera days.] I almost never use flash, but carry collapsible reflector/background discs. I can also use these to block wind from blowing flowers around. I am still using my ancient Slik U-212 tripod; it is capable of ground-level shots, by both spreadable legs and a head-mounting screw on one leg. I recently bought a new pan-and-tilt head with a quick-release plate. Extra batteries, SD cards, and electronic cable release. Some filters and - important - a set of filter wrenches. Once in the field I was unable to remove a polarizing filter from the lens I needed.Feedback
I have been very lucky in my career to work in the field much of the time.This was a personal trip, but I wanted to explore (on my own time) some areas that I had worked in for the Forest Service. And I have been lucky in having well-traveled friends in natural resources and archaeology who have introduced me to great and beautiful locations. I would say: "Get out there! Explore! Choose back roads (like this one) where you can stop at will to take photos. If on faster highways, keep your eyes out for pull-outs or intersections where you can stop. Travel all day; if you find a great place with the wrong lighting, mark the spot on a map, and come back at a better time. But be ready - this shot was in afternoon, but the dark thunderstorm produced the right lighting." I confess to growing doubts about the current tidal wave of photographers, especially at popular spots. If a great spot becomes popular, it becomes busy, and may be rendered pointless for photography. I have begun to adopt the ethical principle of some landscape/nature photographers not to identify some of the locations I shoot. So another recommendation I have is: Find your own spot. Don't go to a particular location because it is well-known. Often, there is landscape equally nice nearby. Nature - including weather - happens everywhere. You just have to be out there often enough, long enough, to catch the elements coming together. I would avoid landscape photo tours, unless you have transportation or walking limitations. I recently took a guided tour of Canyon de Chelly (guide required). The guide had lots of experience in all aspects of the canyon. But he kept stopping at locations where other photographers wanted to shoot. I kept asking him to stop at different places that struck me. I can see utilizing wildlife tours - it takes someone with long experience in a particular location to determine the patterns of wildlife movement there.
