In late Summer of 2013 abnormally frequent storms thundered over the foothills west of Fort Collins, delivering a spectacle of lightning strikes. I watched the first storm from my deck as it suddenly materialized and chugged rapidly over the mountains. I was so mesmerized by the anomalous light show that it passed before I could set up my camera.
I monitored the weather forecast so I’d be primed and ready for the next one. Fatefully, another storm brewed up the following night. I watched as it approached quickly out of the south and moved north straight as an arrow. I hurried to set up my camera while considering how to best capture the action. I decided to use the storm’s trajectory to photograph it as a wide, composite panorama. I shot the storm as it moved in from the south, panning to match its speed while stopping to shoot frames as it moved north. The lightning was so frequent that each exposure of 30 sec was filled with lightning.
In Photoshop I merged the photos into a panoramic composite image using the “Reposition” function in “Photomerge”. In the final image, electrical kraken tentacles filled the photo from one edge to the other.
These storms developed into a weather system that precipitated the Great Flood of 2013. Some spots along the Colorado Front Range received up to 12” of rain in 24 hours, leading to mass flooding and devastation. The Front Range averages only 15” of precipitation for the whole year.
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