Now, I should explain that at this point it was getting really dark (because of the thunderclouds and the time, being after 10 o'clock as it was) and I kept missing the lightning -- as in the photo above -- but most of all the thunder was still far away and I didn't see any lightning branches. All that was happening, apart from hearing the thunder, was the clouds being illuminated by it and that's what you can see here. It's not the sunset as you might expect, but lightning colouring the clouds pink. The orange in the bottom left corner of the last photo is sunset colours, but the rest, from the horizon up, is all lightning.
After these photos where taken, the thunderclouds blocked out all that was left of the twilight and the thunder didn't seem to get closer so I gave up. You can even see it getting darker in the photos (where the last one is taken about 9 minutes after the first one). The thunder, however, didn't get close until the middle of the night. And at that time I was trying to sleep and not in the mood to try and capture lightning on camera.
Sorry about the telephone pole, by the way: I was sitting indoors taking these photos from the only window facing the thunder so there wasn't much I could do to avoid it.
So to conclude: lightning photos is something I need to work on, but I doubt I will. I'm not so fond of thunder that I'll go outdoors during a thunderstorm just to get some so-so lightning photos. I'll just keep admiring the photos taken by pros instead! Better to just sit back, feel save indoors and look out the window just enjoying the equally fabulous and terrifying view. If you have an open skyline, a thunderstorm can be awesome to watch (provided it doesn't get close enough to make you scared about it striking the house).
I always get migraine when there is thunder in the air. I love the beautiful thunder clouds, but the thunder itself is really unpleasant and, of course, even dangerous. Milka
ReplyDeleteUgh, yeah, not fun with thunder if it comes with migraines on top of it!
DeleteI used to be extremely afraid of thunder as a kid, superstitiously afraid almost as I had this idea I couldn't touch the floor during thunder (probably an idea stemming from advice not to be on the phone etc). With a old-fashioned small house and the relatively open landscape, you could feel pretty exposed to the lightning, which was also very visible from afar. Moving to a student apartment at age 18, I felt really safe as it was inside a big house (surrounded by many much taller houses). But it was also there, in the city, I was cured from some of the childhood phobia by accident. Came walking from the train station in the middle of the summer after having been home visiting the family when suddenly everyone was surprised by a sudden downpour. Have never been in a rain quite like that -- it was like when someone pours a bucket of water over you, but multiplied by I don't know what! Got so wet I rejected the idea to wait for the bus, it wasn't possible to get more wet than I already was. And with it came the thunder, right over the town. I swear one lightning stuck just a block or so away! Horrible and frightening but also a steel bath that balanced my fear of thunder. I still prefer to be in a room I feel safe, but I'm not as afraid as I used to be. Not really a treatment I'd recommend for someone else, though... It was super frightening, especially when the lightning stuck so close and I felt so exposed, being outdoors.