Electric Sky
A very energetic storm rolled out of the mountains and spread across the prairies last night. Bobbi was driving home as the clouds thickened and the lightning began to streak across the sky. At her urging, I went out to photograph the light show and it was spectacular. The summer heat seemed to have loosened up Zeus’s arm and he was firing bolts down to the ground and between clouds for a couple of hours.
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This image was taken at the sports field in Redwood Meadows just a little ways from my house. The clouds were running east along the south side of the Elbow River. To the north, the sky was clear which presented an interesting background to lightning. Following a few minutes set up by the field, I went out onto the prairies after this image and had a great (although late) night storm watching.
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Prairie Storm: Dark Clouds, Heavy Rain and a Lightning Strike
This location, just west of Calgary, is one of my favourite places to photograph during the winter months when the sun sets behind the southern edge of the Canadian Rockies. Last night, a massive storm broke free of the mountains and stretched across the prairie. There were some great holes in the clouds that allowed sunlight to streak through here and there. A very dramatic scene to work with and create images of.
Behind the ominous forerunning clouds came the heavy rain. Here the rain is hammering Bragg Creek and moving quickly onto the fields.
As the storm’s intensity built, lightning seemed inevitable and I was lucky to catch this strike hitting along the Elbow River behind a hill in Redwood Meadows.
When the rain did arrive where I was photographing, cover in the car was the prudent option. It was no exaggeration to say this was a torrential downpour.
Christopher Martin Photography 