Tucson Monsoon Lightshow

bgarland

We finally got a good couple waves of thunderstorms rolling through last night.

First an early tease:

1.


2.


3.


Then the main event:

4.


5.


6.


7.

Lindiwe

Love the second shot... and the lightning is just awesome. Capturing lightning is on my wishlist of things to photograph. Zero luck so far.

Beautiful!

bgarland

Thanks for the comments. I have been waiting all summer for a good lightning storm. All the recent past ones had the lightning embedded in the rain so you couldn't get a clear shot. This one threw it all out front out in the open.

schmoo

Amazing!! The lightning shots are cool but I think this time I prefer the huge mushroomy clouds. This definitely was worth the wait

bgarland

schmoo wrote: »

Amazing!! The lightning shots are cool but I think this time I prefer the huge mushroomy clouds. This definitely was worth the wait

Thanks Schmoo. The isolated downpours in the desert are cool. Unless you happen to be right underneath one. :wow

Here's another one for you. You can see on the bottom right of the rain column the dust being kicked up from the intensity.

dlplumer

Super catch Brad. 2 plus the lightening shots are my favorites.

kdog

Holy cow, great storm, BG, and you captured it very well!! That funnel in #2 is sick! :wow

schmoo

bgarland wrote: »

Thanks Schmoo. The isolated downpours in the desert are cool. Unless you happen to be right underneath one. :wow

Here's another one for you. You can see on the bottom right of the rain column the dust being kicked up from the intensity.

Yeow, so cool!! This makes me want to be a raincloud in my next life.

bgarland

Thanks Dan and Joel.

I love the Arizona Monsoon season when it gets active.

anwmn1

Great stuff Brad. I could see that light show from my parts last night. So far though we have been skunked over here. Only one night so far with any decent light. :cry

Sexy6Chick

anwmn1 wrote: »

Great stuff Brad. I could see that light show from my parts last night. So far though we have been skunked over here. Only one night so far with any decent light. :cry

Seriously. I am jealous of the storm and your pictures. I might as well give up lol. Great stuff as always!

bgarland

Sexy6Chick wrote: »

Seriously. I am jealous of the storm and your pictures. I might as well give up lol. Great stuff as always!

Never give up! I look at the photos from Mt Rainier and I want to give up.

It just takes practice and the opportunity to be in the right place at the right time. There are so many places I want to visit to expand my opportunities. In time I may hit a few of them.

Yetishot

Super shots! I would be damned proud to have taken any of those

snowman1

Very nice captures


Doug



http://dougsphotos.smugmug.com/

bgarland

Yetishot and Doug, thanks for looking and the comments. Fun stuff this hobby is.

Secluded Valley

They are all beautiful shots, but those lightning shots, wow, I love 'em! I think I've seen lightning like that only once up here.

Kristine

Roaddog 52

Great stuff. #2 and that lightning is really amazing. Do you use a lightning trigger?

bgarland

Thanks Kristine. Tucson gets some great lighting storms during the Monsoon season. When the lightning is out front leading the rain like this storm it's just asking to be captured.

Thanks Dog. No lightning trigger. I just wait for a storm front with a lot of activity in the same area and focus my camera on that. Then start shooting 15 second exposures at F8 and ISO100. I use a wireless remote trigger so I can just sit back and relax and keep shooting till I get something. This storm was so active I very seldom didn't get something in almost every shot.

jamesl

bgarland wrote: »

We finally got a good couple waves of thunderstorms rolling through last night.

Fantastic work! I keep meaning to get out into that area this time of year to get monsoon shots, but so far it hasn't happened. Thanks for sharing these!

bgarland

jamesl wrote: »

Fantastic work! I keep meaning to get out into that area this time of year to get monsoon shots, but so far it hasn't happened. Thanks for sharing these!

Thanks James. Coming from you that means a lot. I really enjoy your photography.

This year has been pretty hit or miss, mostly miss as far as the typical active storms so you didn't miss much this year. Come on out sometime. I'd love to see what you capture with your skills.

WillCAD

IN




CRED




'BLE!




I'd call it a sequel to "Under the Tuscan Sun" - "Beneath the Tuscon Sky"
[Note: Yes, I know that Tuscon is pronounced totally different from Tuscan, but there's only a one-letter difference, so they look the same when written]