Thursday, August 5, 2010

Funnel Cake


Last night I did a little storm chasing west of town. I got out there before sunset, but much of the storm had moved far enough east that the nearly constant lightning was concealed within the roiling clouds. It was a very dynamic system that eventually joined with a few other cells, and once it got darker, the lightning bolts were there for the prepared photographer's taking.

Then I got a little extra treat. A funnel cloud dropped out of the sky not too far from me, yet far enough away that I really didn't worry about it coming my way. Plus, the storm was still pushing away from me, so I figured even if it touched down and graduated to tornado status, it wouldn't threaten my location. It never touched down, and dissipated shortly after it formed, but not before I got one shot off. This is a 1-minute exposure, and the orange glow in the clouds is from the city lights of nearby Pueblo.

4 comments:

Lance Warley said...

Incredible work, Todd. A 1-minute exposure that includes a funnel cloud and a (probably) 1-thousandth of a second lightning bolt.

To paraphrase Spicoli, that's a tasty cake, dude.

Anonymous said...

That's one of the craziest and scariest flippin' images I've seen. What's new?

David Leland Hyde said...

That's right take back Colorado. Who is John Fielder to say it is his? Ha. It is great to see another photographer call it, his Colorado, especially one who can make a great exposure like this one. Wow. My father, landscape photographer Philip Hyde made one his most widely known and published BW photographs in Colorado in 1955, ("Steamboat Rock, Dinosaur") and he had some color of RMNP and the Mt. Sneffels area, but generally for a photographer of the West, his Colorado coverage is surprisingly thin. One time Chris Brown from Boulder asked him why. Dad replied that he usually ran out of film in Utah before he made it to Colorado.

Todd Caudle said...

David, thanks for "getting" my play on Fielder's possessive take on Colorado. I'm honored that the son of one of the original landscape masters has taken the time to comment on my little blog. I look forward to delving in to your blog.

Best-
Todd