Fingers of Death

It was quite a show east of Pueblo tonight. After spending a while capturing images of the storm to the east, I headed back to town, only to notice more storms brewing on the western horizon. So I passed through town and caught a few of that storm, too. The storm east of town, however, was the main attraction. Surprisingly, the whole time I was out there, I never heard a single rumble of thunder. The storm was far enough away that it provided a light show, but no audio accompaniment.

This was a 216-sec. exposure at f8, ISO 100, 100mm.

This shot is killer! I especially like the hint of the fireball inside the cloud.

Our part of the storm went right over my house. After the rain let up I decided to try my hand an lightning shots again. I think I something worthwhile but have only reviewed them on the camera. If anything is worth posting, I'll put it up.

What an amazing shot! I really like what's going on in the clouds in the upper right.

I was out shooting the lightning last night in Arches. It was a nice show but nothing like this! The fireball in the clouds rocks.

spectacular!

Here's a wider view, cropped to its essential elements in a pano format.

Well done! I really like the pano shot!

That's simply outrageous! One of the best lightning shots I've ever seen.
The full frame image is more powerful, IMO. The tall clouds add a lot to the story.

Definitely dramatic! I slept though it all. Its a cool effect, but the ultra-long exposure doesn't really work for me in this case--it's just too obvious that this was an ultra-long exposure. My philosophy is too "cheat" and use the long exposure to present multiple strikes as something that's one could still imagine seeing in a short period of time (seconds rather than minutes). But if the intent is to capture a longer time, then by all means go for it!

Sweeeet.

Here's one of the storm to the west. Not as dramatic, but I like the mountain ridges.

Spectacular!

Wow! I might crop the small lightning out of the left side of the top photo, so the focus is solely on the big, dramatic lightning. But the shot is spectacular either way.

I was talking to an old friend last night when a big lightning storm passed over my house. Should have hung up on him and gone out to shoot.

Hey Grant, they're calling for more of the same over the next few days. Stand at the ready! (And I hope you were on a cordless phone. If not, there's more reason than just to go take photos to hang up!)

Is that two hundred and sixteen seconds? That's what I call long-exposure. It's great how the lighting bolts essentially freeze-frame the cloud details.

Todd, I like the uncropped version better than the pano. The uncropped version gives a sense of size and power, and the way the clouds are lit up really add nice detail and contrast. Overall, to me, it has more impact.

Those are some awesome images! I really live the first image. I also like the color in the third.

That first one is hair-raising. It looks primordial, and the light up in the clouds just sick.

On a side note, it would go well with this, from one of my favorite companies in the world. Would go well here, too.

Very nice Rick. That stuff is so uplifting

Todd, that first shot is almost Biblical - the clouds at the top right 1/2 look like they belong on the ceiling of the Cistine Chapel!

Todd, the first one is amazing! It looks like there is some war going on in heaven. Incredible clouds and lightning! I love the color tones too! What a great experience you had! Wow!

Todd,

Great shot. Up here in aurora the rain was coming in sideways and it was like the 4th of july all night long.

RichieV

Excellente! Love it, love it, love it!!! I got to see some of the light show as I was heading down the pass to work last night and the night before. So frustrating not to have time to shoot it.