Camping during the monsoon

bgarland

Here are few from Mt Bigelow area in the Catalinas North of Tucson. I was camping up there this past weekend. No lightning shots though, either I was fogged in or hunkered down hiding.

I looked up from my campsite and saw the moon rising into the clouds with the radio towers lit up on a nearby peak. Quick run and get the camera!

1.



2.


3.


4.


5.


This is a tree that was struck by lightning about 50 yards from my campsite while I was sitting on my front porch watching the storm. A little too close for Roxy and me! :humungus

6.


7.

schmoo

Hey Brad, while you have some great perspectives (and clouds!) in all of these, the first shot really takes the cake. It's got drama, moody lighting, and great color.

bgarland

Thanks Schmoo. That one is my favorite too.

The conditions were lousy for shooting down into the valleys since it was so hazy.

I also did not like how the JPGs came out, they looked a lot better in LR but once exported to JPG the image came out with heavy blacks and higher contrast. I edited #2 for this reason and re-posted it. I have not seen that problem in my prior exports from LR so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Art Morgan

Hi Brad-
The lightning was a little too close for comfort, huh?!!!!

#1 looks like a UFO landing zone.

bgarland wrote: »

...so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Too many adult beverages.


Scott Morgan

bgarland

Hey Scott, welcome to Dgrin.

Yep that lighting was way too close for me.

Maybe not enough adult beverages?

I still am not sure why I am seeing my exported JPG images from Lightroom 3 come out much darker than what I am seeing when viewing the RAW image before export. It seems to happen more on images that have a lot of black in them. I haven't seen the same problem with my normal daylight images.

Art Morgan

Thanks for the welcome. Dgrin is a really neat place, lots of helpful people!

I don't know what would be causing the issue of darker exports (I guess it is not a case of viewing the pics on different monitors.) The folks in the finishing school forum may have an answer.

Scott

Marc Muench

Great post Brad

I have fond memories of hiking up MT Wrightson in this type of weather. I can smell the air now as the first drops of rain hit the dust, and there was always the moment when my friends hair would stand on end

That first image is GREAT

bgarland

Thanks Marc.

I agree the trail up Mt Wrightson is an excellent one with great views. The Arizona "sky islands" as they call the isolated mountain ranges that rise up out of the desert are a wonderful retreat from the summer heat.

bgarland

Scott in Tucson wrote: »

Thanks for the welcome. Dgrin is a really neat place, lots of helpful people! <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

I don't know what would be causing the issue of darker exports (I guess it is not a case of viewing the pics on different monitors.) The folks in the finishing school forum may have an answer.

Scott

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kdog

Great shots, BG. I've always enjoyed camping out in the rain. Looks like you had an enjoyable experience as well.

bgarland

BTW, here is the campsite I was hunkered down in during the storms.







And one more advantage of getting up in altitude:

kdog

Pretty awesome camp. Looks like you could live there indefinitely.

bgarland

kdog wrote: »

Pretty awesome camp. Looks like you could live there indefinitely.

Happily until I run out of Makers Mark.

dlplumer

Very cool Brad. Your camping skills and equipment sure allow you to see and capture some beautiful images.

bgarland

dlplumer wrote: »

Very cool Brad. Your camping skills and equipment sure allow you to see and capture some beautiful images.

Thanks Dan.

My joy of camping out in the back country and all the amazing views I have run across over the years is what motivated me to get into photography recently. Hopefully my skills will continue to improve so I can better capture the beauty.

dls

very sweet setup for camp. that is definitely doing it in style. love how you captured the differing weather patterns in the series. and that was one close one re lightning ... must have been loud.

bgarland

dls wrote: »

very sweet setup for camp. that is definitely doing it in style. love how you captured the differing weather patterns in the series. and that was one close one re lightning ... must have been loud.

Thanks Dan.

The lightning sounded like dynamite going off. My dog quickly looked up at me with the look of, I can run now, do you want to run?, come on let's run!!