Storm Glory

I haven't been on a storm photo adventure since last summer in Athens. Last week around 9 o'clock at night I saw the flashes through my window as the thunder rolls crept closer. I decided to hit up the night looking for a spot to shoot lightning from. I have never shot a storm in Tuscaloosa so I just headed to some of the parking decks I was familiar with on the University of Alabama campus. I wanted a view of the stadium or coliseum, but there just wasn't one. There was however a lone cupola in the distance that was lit up against a dark tree line. I set up my tripod, composed my shot, and found my exposure. I think this one was 20 seconds with an f-stop of around 13. It took 2 hours before the lightning popped in my little segment of the sky. During that time I took in a gorgeous storm like a blockbuster on the front row. When I left I was happy just to have gotten one shot I liked. Not many other things in photography thrill me like capturing a little piece of nature's glory.


Lightning forms a web across the sky above the cupola of the Sigma Nu Fraternity House on the University of Alabama campus as a line of thunderstorms rolls in from the south Monday July 26, 2010, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.