Storm Over the Lost Mesa

There are days that everything comes together for photography. This was one of those days.

It had started rather clear but throughout the day the clouds had built. In mid-afternoon the clouds turned into thunderstorms. Late in the day I took up this vantage point looking at the Horned Mountains. Rain was falling. A rainbow formed. I even saw a couple of bolts of lightening. The sun started to go down behind me.

I forgot to add the storm is also moving toward me.

Now that is the makings of a great afternoon of photography. I set up two tripods. The DSLR was the mobile unit moving around. The Arca was set up on what I thought would be the best composition and then stayed there.

Here is that composition. From this vantage I hoped to get the grassy foreground, the mountains and the storm.

I made a few images and the rain looked to be getting closer. I made a few more. The storm broke up as the sunset and never made it to me.

See more about this afternoon on my WildernessPhotographer Blog linked on the right side of the page.

On the Lost Mesa

Photographing on the Lost Mesa of southern New Mexico, while watching the shadows stretch across the landscape at sunset.

This is one of those locations that is so hard to do justice in a photograph. Rolling grasslands cannot really be captured well in any single image. These solitary mountains popping out of the open range are scenic and have fascinated me for years but on a clear day like this are still difficult to photograph.

I made this image in black and white since that is how I was picturing this scene working best. I might even make it into a panoramic and just leave in the mountains and the thin line of clouds.