From dusk to dawn
Something everything just works, and so it did this time. As a consequence of that, you have another trip report for reading! :)
14.-15.8.2021
I was about to go for a little storm chase with my husband and a friend, because there was a chance for a major night time thunderstorm. That small chase soon snowballed into a 5 hour epic spectacle...so we went off for the chase with our car filled with equipment.
Soon after arriving to the photo site, a cloud in southeast started flashing. And it didn't took long until also those storm cells in the west activated and we were able to observe thunder clouds flashing in two directions, west and southeast. Not even hour had passed, and new storm cells were popping up everywhere. There was an epic lightning spectacle going on in the west, and I won't forget that sight anytime soon. I was watching the show in awe, it was so apocalyptic sight. Rain walls and low clouds were blocking the view sometimes, but it didn't interfere much with the joy. Shouts like "I was able to capture that" and "oh my god how amazing" and "wow, wow, wow" were breaking the silence of the night with flashing, distant and silent lightnings.
We had been shooting the western thunder cell for a while, when I heard a shout from a nearby field "is anyone thirsty, I'm going to get some carbonated water". Actually I was quite thirsty and my mouth was dry as a sandal of a beduin in a desert, so I said yes. Suddenly there was a small decline in the lightning activity, so I was able to have my maintenance break. But there was a small problem. I was now on a different field than the guys. My husband asked, how deep is the ditch between the fields. I answered "that if I remember correctly, there is hardly any ditch between the fields." Of course it doesn't equal "there is NO ditch". When bringing the drinks, my husband fell into the ditch, that was not supposed to be - it had appeared there while irrigation systems were installed to the site. In future, should we inspect a photo site BEFORE dark to be sure...? And what was funniest, the whole episode was caught on video with lots of laughter...and because no one was hurt, and there wasn't even any slightest of injury, it is OK to laugh at the event. At the times there were some very subtle rain showers, but mostly the weather was dry. Ideal conditions for stormwatching, only some low- and middle clouds were interfering a little bit..then Riku's and friend's camera battery died, so I went on with the shooting while the guys were cheering my up in the background. Both were shouting, "gogogo, take a shoot, capture it!". Try to find best exposure times and other settings there :D
Eventually we had to call it a night, my eye bags were as big of South Africa and I looked like a happy but tired panda. The guys didn't look good either, they looked exhausted and tired. But the night was amazingly awesome, and the best thing was that I was able to share it with like-minded people. There was no humor deficiency, and it was cheerful event. I wont forget this anytime soon!