Did I Get the Shot I Wanted?
Almost!!
I’ve always wanted to get a spectacular image of a thunderstorm with incredible lighting strikes passing out over Lake Michigan, but…I live 50 miles from the shoreline. Plus, my timing has to be pretty great. What are the chances?
This past Friday evening (August 11th) I was watching on the radar these thunderstorms coming out of northwest Wisconsin heading my way. I’m like “this could be my opportunity”. I’m not going to drive all the way to the lake from where I live to hopefully get decent shot, if any.
I kept my eye on the radar and saying to myself “Yeah, I’m going out tonight” “No, don’t be foolish…it’s late.” I went anyways.
Left the house around 7:30pm, drove a bit north, then jogged over to the east to settle in Port Washington, WI, 80 miles away. I ended up down by the marina with this awesome lighthouse out on the breakwater. Plus, there was already a thunderstorm 70+ miles away in the state of Michigan that I can plainly see behind the lighthouse.
I took my gear and walked all the way out there, and it was really windy. Guessing the winds had to be 30-40mph, which made creating these images difficult. I was hoping the wind could take my gear flying into the rocks and into the lake.
The one of the lighthouse that I thought would look striking in black and white was one of the last images I created. The storm really didn’t have the cloud to ground bolts that I anticipated, but it was cool nonetheless.
Got my images I wanted, went back to the car to check the incoming storm from the west. The lightning had fizzled out. I decided to head back to my home and call it a night. I didn’t get home until 12:30am. I was gone 5 hours and put on about 160 miles.
Click on da images below for a large awesome experience!
