After nourishing rains over the weekend, a deep and broad fog rolled in, covering the land.  I saw a patch of brown to the south that normally wasn't there, and I waited for it to move, suspecting an elk was grazing.  It was a buck mule deer with antlers taking a morning stroll through the sagebrush.  All of nature seemed pleased with the rain.  Anyone who has lived in New Mexico or visited for any length of time knows that the sky never fails to delight, especially in August. Although thunderstorms are frequently "isolated" or "widely scattered" in meteorological terms, their development is fascinating. During two different shoots this weekend, I followed the sky with my cameras (wide shots with the Nikon D5200, details with the D800 and 70-200 mm lens). The winds and relative moisture created some real drama.  A rough ride, no doubt, for those flying.

The photograph below shows two thunderstorm "anvils" that lacked the moisture to bring rain to the ground, but enough to produce a wild sky painting.

cloud action 2

There is a lot going on in the sky here.  The different layers of clouds almost look as if they are competing for space and substance as they mixed to make rain.

cloud action

Things continued to build here.  As Fred says "I'd flip on the 'fasten seat belt' sign, and turn ten degrees right."  

In other words, get the heck around that puppy.

cloud action 3

One of the keys to cloud photography is to keep scanning the entire sky.  Things change quickly when storms are brewing.  The black and white shot below is similar to the one above, but taken a few minutes later.  The sky was getting darker, the clouds becoming moodier.  

And then it rained.

cloud action black and white

Glad so many of you enjoyed last week's sunflowers, including Dave O. (who grew up with them), Claudia, Catherine, Jean and Sam, Lucia, Ingrid, Steve, Annie, Barbara, Pauli, and Victoria.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image@