It was a late Friday evening and I was in Maria Stein taking pictures. I had just left Saint John where I got a great shot of the church from the back with the cemetery. (See Description of Byway for pic) I had moved on to the Shrine of the Holy Relics and hadn’t been there long when a very nasty storm started moving in. As you can see from this picture with the flag the clouds were almost black. The wind was picking up and I wanted to get some pictures of the 50 foot cross from the Spiritual Center of Maria Stein so I packed up the van and drove down rather than walk.This is just one of the few pictures I was able to snap before the sirens sounded. I am not a storm chaser, besides it looked like it could rain buckets at anytime, plus my 15 year old son was home alone and I did not have my cell to check on him. So I booked it. I was worried about my son and didn’t want him worrying about me. Of course there was a very good chance that he would be oblivious to anything that was happening outside of his laptop screen.
"The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it."
John 1:5
Surprisingly the buckets of rain never came. The sun dropped under the storm clouds and then OH MY JOSH, the storm clouds lit up like fire. The sky was ablaze with orange, purple, red…it was awesome. And here I am trucking down 119 in the middle of no-where and no place to stop and take a decent picture. I could turn back. Visions of what the sky was doing and all the possible foreground elements I had just left behind haunted me, calling me to return.
As much as I wanted to go back, I did not. I needed to be a father not a photographer. I stopped just before the light show ended and took some pictures. Somewhere in the process my camera had got set to an ISO of 1600, just not my night. (High ISO means Noise/Grain). When I got home, I found Tyler not oblivious but amused that I rushed home to his rescue.
I may have missed a great photo opportunity, but regardless of how my son felt, I know in my heart I did the right thing.
Thank You Susan K. for the Scripture Suggestion for the Cross and Storm
Great photos! I love storms. I guess after living in Nebraska for 15 years that is no surprise. True beauty of the nature from God no matter how dangerous it is.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, good job on the dad part too. Not sure if I could have resisted the temptation... for... just... one... picture. :)
Thanks Dave,
ReplyDeleteThis one was a beaut. I've been in my share of tornados so I was not surprised when the sirens sounded. But I was totaly unprepared for the light show that followed. Thanks for the comment.
Great shots, Russ! I love the shots of the churches with the storm approaching. Keep up the beautiful work!
ReplyDeleteP.S. This is Nicole from the Photo Society :)