before and after

After all the incantations, prayers, rain dances, and other forms of offerings that were made in the Southwest for rain to replenish the water table, it came this week, in some places with a vengeance.  Although New Mexico did not receive the national press nor suffer the magnitude of damage that Colorado did, many areas nonetheless received impressive amounts of rain.  According to the Albuquerque Journal, Bandelier National Monument received 9.35 inches since Tuesday, and nearby Los Alamos had 7.22.  With a storm total of 3.16 inches, Albuquerque received almost half of its yearly moisture.  There is a huge sinkhole in the Interstate 40 median 20 miles west of Albuquerque,  a Phoenix man died when his vehicle was washed away near Elephant Butte, and the Rail Runner commuter train line was closed on Sunday due to a washed out bridge on Santo Domingo Pueblo land.

On our patch of the mesa, we received 3.42 inches as a storm total, and for the most part, the rain was quite civilized, without lightning or hail.  There were some impressive skies which offered the name of today's blog.

Here is "before" - a cumulus cloud formation, packed with moisture, lifting and building layer upon layer.

And just so that I can remember puddles when dryness returns to the land, here is my "after" shot of  rice grass sitting in a puddle that formed after one solid rain.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Stormy weather

As with each photography category - portraits, sports, dance, art - weather photography has its own challenges, and I have always been curious about the difficulty of photographing lightning.  Rising to the challenge this week, with increased thunderstorm activity in the great Southwest, I set out to capture lightning.  Not out in the open (although one summer at Girl Scout Camp I danced around a metal flag pole during a thunderstorm) but from the relative comfort of our portal.

What did I learn?   Focus should not only be on the lightning but on the landscape and clouds.  You can count and "gestimate" when strikes might occur.  And it takes a lot of patience.  I thought my nose was going to be permanently altered to one side after pressing my face against the viewfinder for lengthy periods of time.  Obviously, I need more practice but here are a few weather shots from a rousing storm this week.  Not a drop of rain fell on our land from this seemingly ominous storm.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image