Sunset Summer Storm

[Ken Tanaka]

We Midwesterners are long accustomed to strong thunderstorms in the summer. But sometimes we're lucky enough to see them building from a distance.

Tonight, while having dinner, I looked out the window and saw this whopper gliding past the window at sunset. It slid over south Chicago and the southern tip of Lake Michigan, where it picked up steam before rolling into northwestern Indiana and shaking some Hoosiers' windows. The colors in the storm clouds at sunset were like a Vermeer painting, and the JPEG just barely does them justice.

http://www.pbase.com/image/32402984/original

For those familiar with the Chicago area you're looking over Monroe Harbor towards the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Indiana is to the left. The peninsula on the right side is the Adler Planetarium.

Just felt like sharing the scene!

[Rob Lohman]

That is just.... amazing. I'm speechless! We sure don't have
anything like that here. WOW.

[Ken Tanaka]

This morning a popular local meteorologist commenting on that storm said that those thunderheads were as tall as 6 miles and that some of the large clouds were as distant as 60 miles from the city. It produced 60-70mph winds with 1" hail.

I'm glad it was "over there"!

[Keith Loh]

Beautiful.

[Nick Medrano]

Wow, good photo Ken! Thanks for sharing. I love clouds.

[Josh Allen]

Wow, that is a very cool picture.

[Adrian Douglas]

That's really nice Ken. I remember we used to watch the fronts coming up from the South when I was in New Zealand and they were always impressive.

Clouds are cool and can make a average shot a little better. This is one of mine of a friend at a local skate park. The jump is nothing spectacular but the shot works because of the clouds, they add interest. Well to me anyway, I'm with Nick.

[Stephen Schleicher]

Great photo - now my computer wallpaper!

Cheers!

[Ken Tanaka]

Hey, now that you mentioned it, that shot -would- make good monitor wallpaper!

Thanks very much for all of your comments.

Adrian, I keep getting a "You are trying to access a restricted area." message when I follow your link to see that photo. Do I need creds?

[Adrian Douglas]

Maybe Ken, I'll see what the problem is.

[Rob Lohman]

I get the same "error" message

[Yang Wen]

Wow. Ken nice apartment!

[Steven Digges]

Ken,

That is a beautiful shot. It is also a superb example of the incredible exposure latitude digital photography is providing. I have never used a chrome film that can come close to that range of detail.

I think you should link to your shot of the museum at night so others can see it, nice job.

Steve

[Ken Tanaka]

Thank you for your kind remarks, Steven! What I found especially remarkable was that I took that shot through a Thermopane window. That is, a double-glazing of 80 gray glare guard glass.

It truly is amazing how the exposure latitude has improved on these cameras in such a short time. The RAW file of that shot reveals even finer gradations of orange/gray/green/yellow tones near the interface of the clouds and water. Kodachrome 64 might have been able to come close.

Here is the Milwaukee Art Museum shot to which Steven referred above. I shot this with my Canon 10D in a completely unprepared manner. My wife and I were walking back to our hotel past the museum from a lakefront festival. Everything was perfect for a good nighttime shot. The air was dry and cool. The view was unobstructed. But I had no ready support for a long exposure. So I just made-do by placing the camera on a nearby hand railing. The shot's not as sharp as it could be, since I had to continue holding the camera. But not bad for ad-hoc! Funny story: while messing with the shot in post I was annoyed by what seemed to be little flecks of dust in the sky near the upper left corner. Duh...I finally realized that they're stars.

[Rob Lohman]

I had the exact same thing: what is that? dust? Who would've
though that such a relative small piece of equipment could take
these kind of photos in the setup you just described! Amazing
indeed. Nice photo as well Ken!