This photo was taken Saturday night, August 25th, 2012, from my porch on 14th street, bayside, and if you couldn’t tell, it was during a thunderstorm. Now that the big question has been answered, here comes the real story…
Every winter, the only thing I look forward to (other than not being cold and miserable), is those fleeting few days in April and May when the weather isn’t quite hot enough to make you want to run into the nearest 7-11 and jump in an ice cooler, but not so cold you contemplate lighting your clothes on fire just to stay warm; there’s a wonderful meeting place somewhere between the two. Besides the unspeakably awesome temperature outside, the best thing about this time of year is the epic thunderstorms that come rolling in at around 3PM, ominously dark blotches in an otherwise pristine sky. There is nothing more enjoyable during these times than sitting around and just admiring the storms for what they are: awe inspiring powerhouses of nature. This spring however, I was brutally and mercilessly robbed of any such show. Oh, how bummed I was.
Fast forward a few months to the end of summer and the pit in my soul that had been created by the lack of thunderstorms had been filled in with the saltwater and booze of summer (a combination which I recommend for filling any type of soul-hole). Then, out of nowhere, something caught the corner of my eye and echoed in my ears. Could it be true? I asked myself in a stupor, and then, before I could finish that thought…BOOOOM!
It was here, the first momentous storm of the year, and I was in the perfect place, perfect time; Saturday night, no work the next day, and a 3rd story porch facing the storm coming in from the west. After admiring the light show for quite some time, I thought (and by “I”, I mean my wife suggested,) that taking pictures was a grand idea. So, I grabbed my camera, set the exposure as high as it would go (30 seconds), cranked the aperture way up (14), threw that bad boy on a tripod and hoped for the best. Having only ever experimented with long exposure photography a handful of times, I was skeptical at best of what the results of this endeavor would be. I was generously rewarded on my 5th attempt with the picture you see before you. Oh how excited I was.
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