The Barefoot Photographer®

a photography blog

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Stormy Weather


I had the plan to do a post on the storms that went through here last week and I completely forgot.  Oh well -- things have been a little busy lately and will get busier next month -- which is in just a couple days!  I don't know what I was doing -- but I realized that March is Sunday!

As of this week, I am one third of the way through with my first photography class through the leisure classes at Clayton State University.  This is fun and a little different -- a larger group than I am used to -- but a great group of people.  Beginning on Sunday I have a small, intimate class starting at Dogwood Gallery in Tyrone.  I haven't had a class at Dogwood before either -- so again -- a new place.  Then on March 6, I have a Photoshop Elements for Beginners class at the Fayette Senior Center.   

Of course, I am also busy working on Nature Undisturbed.  Some big announcements will be coming soon about the events -- there will be something fun and informative each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Remember the dates for this show are April 24 through May 3.  Mark your calendars -- you won't want to miss an event if you are a photographer or just like to look at photos.

OK -- back to the storm -- February 18 some serious thunderstorms were rolling through Atlanta.  We were keeping a close eye on them by watching TV and checking the Internet.  We had to shut down all the electronic equipment in the house twice (I have had lightning hit a house once -- I unplug everything!).  It seems that the worst of the storm went a bit south of us and some other parts of the storm line were just north of us.  We had no serious winds or hail at our house -- not even that much lightning.  

The clouds were really swirling and moving fast.  Of course, I grabbed the camera.  My husband and I stepped out on the front porch and heard a sound.  He asked, "What is that?"  To which I replied, "gee, I think it is the tornado siren -- look at that cloud."  So, with camera in hand I stepped out into the yard and then moved to the back of the house and onto the deck.  It was standing on the deck that I took the photo on the blog today.  I thought the clouds looked so tall and fluffy -- kind of that wispy thing going on.  

Since the storms came through near sunset the lighting on the clouds was dramatic in some places and more subtle in others.  I like this photo with the bits of light picking up certain spots along the wall of clouds.  Another part of this photo that I really like is the bare tree sort of near the center looking as if it is reaching up to the clouds as they dip down.  I had the 50mm lens on the camera and my settings were aperture f/2.8 and shutter speed 1/125.  Of course with a landscape-type photo like this I would have preferred having a smaller aperture -- but I opened up the aperture to give me a faster shutter since I was handholding.  I chose to convert this photo to black and white to highlight the little bright spots of the cloud and the silhouette of the trees.

Time for the disclaimer -- I do not advocate going outdoors during storms and certainly not during tornado watches and warnings.  

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