I debated uploading this shot...I'm still feel at sorts with some of my night photography, but then again everything in life will continue to be a process of learning as we go. During my trip into No Man's Land in the Oklahoma Panhandle, this was part of the site I witnessed on the second night. Just before I went to bed, I looked at the door and saw lightning flashes from the west to the north as two thunderstorms traveled northeast. Since I was almost at the absolute northwest corner of the Oklahoma Panhandle, this storm was most likely traveling across the New Mexico/Colorado border at this point. The area was in much need of rain, so the distant storms were a little bitter sweet.

At times it was extremely eerie standing outside without a city light in site with only the star light and lightning flashes, as the wind blew towards and into the rolling thunderstorms. It was well worth staying up and watching the spectacle. After an hour to hour and a half, this storm seemed to begin loosing strength since the lightning flashes substantially slowed down in number.

I don't know if you can tell, but in this shot is one of the Panhandle's many mesa's, the lightning bolt and thunderstorm, and the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) directly over head in top center of the image. One thing that is pretty neat is how many more stars you can see without any distracting light, which makes it a little more difficult to point out the popular constellations. I was quite pleased with being able to capture all those elements in one shot, but then again I am a nerd! (Here's a link to a crude outline of Ursa Major in this picture: [link])

Hope you enjoy!


©Copyright Kyle Wright. You may NOT use, replicate, manipulate, or modify this image without my permission. All Rights Reserved.