signs of spring

To many, spring begins with flowering bulbs and fruit trees bubbling with blossoms.  I have been known to photograph these things with an indescribable joy in my heart.  But as is typical in northern New Mexico, more often than not, the fruit trees bloom, and just when they are poised for the first stages of fruit production, a late frost lays over the land, dashing the hopes of fruit ranchers and enthusiastic foodies alike.

But besides flowers and taxes, a sure sign of spring is really interesting weather, and we in United States, have certainly had our share this week.  For weather geeks, the thin and powerful whips of thunderstorm lines reaching from southern Mexico almost to the Canadian border, is definitely a signal that spring is here in earnest.  The radar-indicated colors range from green and yellow, to orange, bright red, and even magenta.  One must hope that most people under the magenta pools are in their basements or safe rooms because there is a powerful brew in the sky ready to stir the pot.  Although not as dramatic as some we have seen in other locales, these cumulonimbus mammatus or "mama" clouds graced us with their drama, but fortunately not a violent result.

I love the understated caution included in the Wikipedia description of these types of cloud formations.

"Due to the intensely sheared environment in which mammatus form, aviators are strongly cautioned to avoid cumulonimbus with mammatus."  Keep safe!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

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

Skyscapes

A summer sky in the Rockies, particularly in New Mexico, is tough to beat.  The Land of Enchantment is a bit of a drama queen when it comes to skyscapes, and her landscape pushes, whirls and traps atmospheric moisture into developments of intense drama.

A bonus, as well as a hazard, of sky photography is that the skyscape it constantly in flux.  If you like it, run, don't walk, to get your camera.  The queen is changing costume and the stagehands move with lightning speed!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image