A severe thunderstorm rolled through Grinnell, Iowa a couple hours ago and I
couldn't refuse the opportunity to get out in it and shoot. As I've been in
the midst of photographing the library before it is decommissioned, I
thought that maybe it might make a good subject.
I rode out the storm in my jeep just on the edge of town out in the open
away from trees and power-lines. A good thing, too. Power went out as so
many trees and branches got blown down that the city had to use a snow-plow
to clear the streets. The rain and hail was so intense that visibility was
near zero and what I could see wasn't very comforting as the power poles
were swaying. I moved the jeep to keep the nose pointed into the wind as I
didn't want the side windows to blow out from hail or the jeep to get
rolled. One of the strongest winds I've been out in. The lightening was
incredible with this storm and I haven't seen this much cloud-to-ground
lightening in years.
I went downtown and parked (somewhat illegally, but who cares) across the
street from the library and shot through the driver's window of the jeep.
It was still raining and the camera (and me) was getting drenched.
Fortunately, the E-1 and 14-54 are up to the task. I had to repeatably wipe
the lens off and longed for one of those new-fangled UV filters that water
doesn't stick to. :)
To hold the camera steady, I had it mounted to a monopod and it was jammed
between the door and the seat. Plenty stable, except for the wind-gusts
rocking the jeep.
It was just a matter then of waiting for a flash of lightening to photograph
and reflexes fast enough to get it. There were a lot of flashes I didn't
get, but this one I did. No, it didn't actually strike the building, but
was about four seconds away.
www.zone-10.com
AG
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