HAVING AN EYE ON THE SKY

Thunderhead over farm, north of Guttenberg, Iowa

I spent a lot of time this week in my car, driving through the countryside for some business appointments far away. Sometimes it can be a little boring, but when puffy clouds show up in the sky I watch how they develop. There wasn’t much traffic when this thunderhead got some interesting light and when it was right behind this farm at the horizon I knew I had an opportunity for a picture. No distracting power lines in the foreground, no other cars around, just perfect for a brief stop. Two minutes later I was on the road again, this time with a smile in my face… 😊

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 62mm, 1/500 s, f/8, ISO 160

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2022 #8 - STOP AT THE BEST MOMENT

Thunderstorm moving out, Mississippi River, Guttenberg, Iowa

My thank you goes out to our friend Mary, who drove the car while this beautiful scene with clouds was visible over in Wisconsin across the Mississippi River last weekend. She stopped safely without any hesitation, so I could get out of the car and make the photo. Some wet roads further south told us later that this thunderstorm had mad its impact also on the Iowa side of the river. This was taken just above lock & dam #10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, about 30 miles north of our home.

There is very little to do in post process since I import my monochrome settings right out of camera into Adobe Lightroom. As in this case, what I saw on the screen at the back of the camera after the click was pretty much what I wanted to see in the final image. Another great summer day we were able to share with friends. Thanks again Mary!

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #14 - DYNAMIC IN THE SKY

Storm cloud over the Mississippi, Mud Lake, Iowa, June 2019

Here is another image from earlier this year. A thunderstorm had just passed our area and moved across the Mississippi River into Wisconsin and northwest Illinois. The storm was moving very fast and I made quite a few shots. The light and shape of the clouds in every photo looked quite different from the one before. I have photographed the Mississippi River at Mud Lake many times before and in every kind of weather. Rarely was I able to capture such a high dynamic in the sky.

CHASE THE LIGHT (AND THE CLOUDS)

While friends and family in Germany suffer under a heat wave since a while, we enjoy moderate temperatures, and even more important, relative low humidity here in Iowa. Nevertheless, small thunderstorms cross the country, with very little effect, but still with great clouds. Last night I went out to chase the light that comes with thunderheads and dark clouds and I didn’t have to go very far. Here in the Driftless Area of the Midwest, where the landscape was never glaciated, we have to drive out of the valleys and find a spot in the hills that allows an unobstructed view for such a photo. One of my favorite places is Hantelman Road, a gravel road near the town of Sherrill, Iowa. The state of Iowa has power lines that can spoil an image everywhere, but knowing the location I knew exactly where to go. Why do I call it a chase? Well, it happened before, the magic light and clouds might be gone before the photographer arrives on location. This time it worked out just right… 😊

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR

THUNDERHEADS

Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa  ------- 

With thunderheads still towering over the east side of the Mississippi River I could not finish my short trip through the countryside without finally driving down to Mud Lake yesterday evening. The sun had disappeared already behind the ridge of the valley but threw still gorgeous light at the puffy clouds on the Wisconsin side of the river. This place is never the same twice and one of the reasons why I keep coming back over and over again.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4, Schneider Graduated ND filter 0.9, @52 mm, 1/50s, f/8, ISO100

DOES SUMMER HAVE AN END?

To my friends and family in Germany I always describe September as a month that has in general still the character of summer here in Iowa, This is in particular true for this year. During the last few days unusual high temperatures made life a little uncomfortable for people like me, who love a more moderate climate. This all had to come to an end and this evening thunderstorms crossed the country and will continue to cool down the air in the next 24 hours. With thunderstorms come big, puffy clouds. If you follow my blog since a while you know already that I like to make clouds the subject of photos in my landscape photography quite often. I just love how clouds, and the ever changing light that comes with them, can create drama in a landscape. If in addition a string of Canada Geese crosses the sky, the shutter of my Nikon D750 is rattling… Oh, I love fall, even if it still feels like summer…😉

NICE WHEN THEY MOVE AWAY

We had a big thunderstorm with very heavy rain and strong winds a couple nights ago, leaving us without electrical power for a day and hundreds of broken trees and branches on the ground in our area. Today’s photo of a developing storm cell was made already last weekend after our paddle tour in the Green Island Wetlands. This kind of weather is not unusual here in July but not every cloud is as beautiful as this one. And yes, it is always nice to see them moving away from us…😉

I had only the long lens with me but it can deliver some good results for landscape photography. Zoomed out to its minimum focal length of 150 mm I had enough to leave most of the not so pretty lake surface out and still have my subject, the nice anvil cloud, in its entirety in the viewfinder.

1/640 s, f/8, ISO 100, @150 mm, Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 #7 - CLOUD HUNTING

Mississippi river, Mud Lake, Iowa - Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4

Clouds piled up to big thunderheads this evening and I took Cooper, our dog, and rushed down to the Mississippi River in hope for a good shot. It didn’t work out the way I thought and even some rain drops came down at my arrival at Mud Lake. I gave Cooper his much needed exercise for the day and waited for some changes in the sky. The thunderheads were too far away for being really the subject in the photo but the light became kinda lovely and moody and that’s when I made the click.

THUNDER HEADS OVER DRESDEN

Dresden, Saxony, Germany

Spending time with my German family and friends is priceless. Yesterday we made a trip by train to the more than 1000 years old city of Meissen and returned to the capitol of my home state Saxony Dresden by paddle river boat. The famous skyline of Dresden was crowned by big thunder heads. You can’t ask for more as a photographer…

FINDING A COMPOSITION

My fascination for great clouds, especially big thunderheads, is unbroken. A few days ago we had plenty of them. All what it took was going down to the big river and find a composition. There is some water between me and the reeds in the background but I kept it out of the frame. The eye has no choice but going straight to the cloud, and that is how it was meant...