Fool in the Rain
Welcome back!
A couple weeks ago, an epic storm came through the city, which provided a number of photographic opportunities. For once, the forecast from the night before was pretty accurate, and it was worth getting up before dawn.
By the time I was out, it had already rained a bit, which made for shiny streets:
I had expected this to work better in black and white, which makes the structure more evident, but I kind of like the rich colours. Here’s the original intent:
From here it was a quick half hour walk to the top of Garbage Hill, which is practically the only raised vantage point in this flat flat city. Once there I made a ridiculous 1x4 panorama, but it was the only way to catch the feeble struggle of the rising sun vs the engulfing storm:
The wind was intense, and the birds were going nuts. This flock of crows seemed to be playing with the updrafts, working back and forth across the hill. Behind them, just little dots, it looks like flying dirt, but it’s dozens or hundreds of seagulls, all riding the winds, or maybe panicking?
The little henge structure at the top of the hill (which is a compass) formed a nice base for a briefly lit gap in the clouds:
Meanwhile, out west, every few minutes the lightning would trigger in a series, like fireworks. I didn’t have a timer, and don’t own a lightning detector, so I couldn’t catch the forks, but after waiting patiently for the first flash, I managed to catch the clouds lit up from behind for a nice effect:
At this point it occurred to me that I was standing at the top of a hill in an open field under an oncoming storm with a lot of electrical activity, so I decided discretion was the better part of valour, and got the hell out of there. It took another twenty minutes before the drenching began, but when it did it came with a vengeance. Thankfully, my camera is an all-weather monster, so when this goose and I came face to face, wondering which one of us was the fool in the rain, I was able to take the title shot:
I like a lot of things about this shot, but the one mistake I made which I wish I could go back and redo is the depth of field. It think it would have worked better with a much tighter depth of field, emphasizing the streaks of rain and making the background more ethereal. Something to ponder the next time I’m standing in a downpour.
I headed home after this, since I was thoroughly soaked…raincoats are great, but they don’t cover the legs. The rain dump was giving me ideas for the next morning, which promised to be cooler, and therefore with possible fog.
I wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t as much as I’d hoped, only settling in the lowest areas. Still, I tried to make do:
Here, with the first sunlight hitting the tree tops, the mist kept oozing out from under the trees, only to be blown away:
The mist next to the ponds, still rising to envelope this small tree, lasted longest:
Soon the sun rose and cleared it all away. And with that the drama of the storm came to an end.
I’ll close out this blog with a few urban shots: It’s kind of surprising what play of light and form is revealed first thing in the morning, in the alleys behind buildings, or at the edge of disused train tracks:
And that’s it for October, thanks for visiting and take care!
Cheers!
