Timing

The skies had oscillated all evening from bright and sunny to dark and ominous. 

Often, as happens a lot on the prairies, both at the same time.

It wasn't yet raining over my part of the city when I went to the back step to look for a rainbow. It wasn't yet raining when I saw the full bow and dashed inside for my camera and tripod. It wasn't yet raining when the second rainbow appeared around the perimeter of the first.

But it had started raining by the time I shot my 36th of 93 exposures at the exact fraction of a second required to capture this beauty. 

Right on time.

Into the Storm

When you combine a fascination with the weather with a penchant for photography, you may find yourself with a storm chaser. In my case, I found myself with a storm chasing roommate - completely self-educated and obsessed with all things atmospheric.

(You can check out his stuff for yourself here)

Once or twice a year, he heads to the weather alleys of the USA, sometimes with a professional tour, sometimes on his own, in search of  mammatus clouds and hail storms and tornadoes with sub-vortices. (I dunno either).

Sometimes, he doesn't have to go that far.

On July 6, 2019, his newsfeeds were blowing up about a storm brewing near Cochrane, just northwest of Calgary, Alberta. When he invited me and a friend to go storm chasing with him, I was hardly going to say no. He was so excited. And we were excited for him.

Cochrane was a bust, but our mission was not.

We hit the ring road around Calgary and headed southeast, following the tweeters and an array of weather apps he keeps in his back pocket. I was shooting out the window of the truck, watching the storm come over the city and head south. We drove and drove (and somehow didn't get pulled over) until finally we got around this thing, and I was able to get my very first (and one and only decent) storm photo, somewhere east of Chestermere, Alberta.

Prairie Sky

On the western boundary of Airdrie, Alberta: a stop the car moment for some gorgeous blues and greens, and the only cloud in the sky.

Downtown Cowtown

July 2 was a beautiful day. I was in the mood to be out of the house, but I didn't want to go far. And so it was that I found myself perched with this guy over looking the Bow River and downtown Calgary.

Oddly enough, on reviewing my photos that day, I thought I had nothing substantial. On reviewing them 4 months later, it turns out they just needed a little burning here and a bit of dodging there and voila!

Black and white drama

and spectacular evening colour...

...and a little bit of love for the city I currently call home.