Storm Clouds

BG had one of her final dance classes last night. It was a long one, so I planned on dropping her off instead of staying like normal, but she ended up feeling really crummy. To be on the safe side in case she wanted to leave, I needed to stay. I took my book to keep me busy, but at the last minute, I grabbed my camera, too. Her studio isn’t exactly in a pretty area, so this was totally a whim thing. I am so glad I did.

About a half an hour before she was done and around the time the sun was getting to set, these stunning storm clouds blew up over the edge of the building. There was so much color and texture in them, all set on a backdrop of pristine blue sky.

The timing of these clouds moving in was amazing. I managed to catch them just as the edge was starting to give a misty haze over the moon.

One of the really amazing pieces to this and something that I have zero way of showing because it was just too all encompassing, was this massive range from one side to the other. I guess I could have shot a video or panorama, but I didn’t think of that. The one side, you had this vividly colored cloud bank with deep reds, oranges and pinks on spiky ragged clouds hanging on the edge of the storm.

In the middle, you had these dark, bubble like formations.

On the other side, which was actually the edge of a different storm cell, you had these soft brushes of clouds that look like they were on a painter’s canvas.

I’m sure that to the handful of other parents that were waiting in their cars, I looked like an idiot running around in the parking lot, from one end to the other paying more attention to the sky than where I was walking.

Not long after I got these shots, the sun dropped low and the clouds got thicker to where you couldn’t see much. It wasn’t until we were on the way home that we were treated to an amazing lightning show out of both storms. I was hoping I could get home in time to set up to try and grab some more shots as these were producing a ton of streak lightning, but they had both broken down just enough that I got to watch a few more amazing bolts while I was getting my camera set up before I was able to get a single shot. Oh, well. I got the clouds.