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From the Big Bend Ranch State Park Headquarters
at Presidio go 3 miles
south on Hwy 170, take a left on the gravel road that takes you to the
interior of the park. About 1 mile at the highest point, look west and you
can see the lights of Presidio glowing in the late evening light.
I was standing at this spot waiting to see if the thunderstorms that where building to the east and south would produce some lightning. When I glanced to the west and saw the lights of the city
start to come on I decided to hike to a ridge two hundred yards from the road so I could
get a clear shot of the sunset and lights, not realizing that a
storm was starting to
form over the city and mountains.
I was
about twenty feet from the edge of the ridge when I noticed the storm started to produce lightning, I sprinted the last few feet, and quickly set up my camera
(Pentax
645, 200mm lens) and tripod. Immediately I captured a single bolt then another, the storm started to intensify, a double bolt (above) and another. Then as quickly as it started it was over, in less that 5 minutes I shot eight frames of film, four with
single bolts two with double bolts and two with none.
If I would have stayed at
the road I would have missed the
opportunity completely. Intuition and luck helped
me capture a scene I may have otherwise missed.
George Hosek |
