1.21 Gigawatts - Anza-Borrego Desert - October 12, 2018

Nice lightning bolts looking north from the top of Sweeney Pass in the southern portion of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This bolt was VERY close by - almost too close for comfort. I heard and felt the loud BOOM of thunder almost immediately after seeing the flash of the bolt. If the sky here has kind a fake or "plastic" feel to it, it's because it was POURING rain at the time and this was a long exposure. The pouring rain appears like a coat of glossy clear paint as a result. No Photoshop work here.

In order to shoot this shot, I placed my camera rig under a folding table to shield it from the pouring rain. Luckily the rain was coming straight down and not blowing sideways - otherwise I'd be making an insurance claim on my gear. Haha. While the weather station on my camper registered only 0.04" of rain up here, it all came down with about 30 minutes or so. Among the commotion, I didn't have much time to carefully frame my shot before shooting this frame as part of a timelapse - I made sure to get the ocotillo and cholla in the fame to the right, then had to start shooting and seek shelter under the canopy of my trailer.

On Friday night (October 12, 2018) I got to experience the most epic thunderstorm I've ever seen in southern California. I know I may have said something similar a week or two ago, but this one tops ALL thunderstorms I've experienced out here.

Read less