Scott Wood Photoblog

December

I really wanted to end the calendar with the final lightning image I captured during the 2011 Arizona monsoon season.  This image is actually quite special to me, I had been driving by this location near the Chandler Municipal Airport all season and kept wishing for lightning to be in the right place to capture this very shot.  Finally, on Sept. 13, 2011, everything aligned and I got it.  I shot more that evening, but this was the final image I shared from the season.

There are a few things that I wish were different in this shot, I would love to have had the clouds be a little brighter, but when it comes to shooting lightning sometimes you have to take what you can get. :-)

I hope you have enjoyed this little series of blog posts about the locations of the 13 images featured in my 2012 Storm Chasing in Arizona calendar.  I also want to thank everyone who has already ordered their copy, you have no idea what it means to me.  If you haven’t ordered yours yet you can by clicking on the ad in the upper right column on the blog.  You can also order any of the prints featured in the calendar, as well as any other of my images by visiting my galleries.

Time to start posting some Christmas images as well as something from the new IR converted D200 I just got. :-)

October

Even though I have included a lot of non-lightning images in my 2012, lightning is what I am really out there to capture each and every day of the monsoon season.  I love to photograph lightning, there is both power and beauty in every strike.  I captured this strike along the Bush Highway in the lower Salt River recreation area on Aug. 18, 2011.  I had been shooting quite a bit of lightning all that evening but wanted to set setup along the highway with the hopes of getting some light trails from passing cars.

November

Back to Aug, 28, 2010 for this image.  We had been out shooting all day and found ourselves in Fountain Hills, AZ as the sun was setting.  The skies were gorgeous and there were storms developing to the south and east of us.  I decided that this would be a good place to setup and wait for the storms.  I did get some lightning images that evening, but this shot of the southern sky being lit by the setting sun was the winner for the evening.

Just December left in my little rundown of the images in my 2012 Storm Chasing in Arizona calendar.

August

Those who followed my social media streams though the monsoon season know that it was a pretty special year when it came to lightning photography.  I not only got to capture a few images that I had planned out, but I was also able to capture a couple truly unique images, at least unique to anything I had ever captured before.  This image is a perfect example of that.  I captured it right at sunset on September 9, 2011 just north of Casa Grande, AZ.  A little secret is that I was only about 100 yards or so away from where I captured the July image the month before.  Those that are familiar with sunsets in Arizona know that you can get the most amazing golden color in the western sky, and that is where the coloring from this shot comes from, I did very little processing to it, and all of the elements lined up perfectly for this image.

September

This image was taken on July 20, 2011.  That’s right, the same night as the image from the cover.  This was during a little lull in the monsoon and I was eager to get out and shoot anything I could.  While I didn’t think that the buildup you see in this image was going to develop into anything lightning-wise, I thought it made for some gorgeous skies and knew that it would contrast well with the fields in south Chandler, where this image was captured.  What I really like about this image is that you can almost forget that it was shot in the middle of the Arizona desert when it was well over 100 degrees out.

As always, please click on either image for larger versions and to order prints.  Don’t forget that you can also order the calendar itself from the link in the upper right hand column here on the blog.

June

The June image was captured on July 2, 2011 along Usery Pass Rd. just south of Bush Highway in the lower Salt River area.  This day actually marked the start of the “stormy” season as it really was the first day that wasn’t boring blue skies.  It was so nice to have some clouds in the sky that I had no choice but to get out and shoot some.  There didn’t end up being any heavy rain or lightning that day, but sometimes you just have to take what you can get.

July

As you probably know, 2011 was the year of the Haboob, or big dust storm if you are actually getting tired of the term Haboob.  The Phoenix area had a massive dust storm come through the metro area on July 5, 2011 that made headlines all over the world.  It was also the storm that I captured in time lapse that has also been seen all over the world.  This haboob though was not from the July 5th storm, it was from the day before, July 4th.  I shot this just north of Casa Grande, AZ and was shooting to the south.  I really love how you can see the different layers of the sky, everything from the dust at ground level to the blue sky far above.

Remember, if you want to see larger versions simply click on the image.  This will take you to my gallery where you can also order prints.

April

The April shot is really special to me.  I captured it on Aug. 28, 2010 just north of Florence, AZ.  We had been out shooting all day and were heading towards Florence to get in front of what looked to be a developing thunderstorm.  This scene literally developed along the highway as we were driving.  I slammed on the brakes (not recommended when there is actually traffic around you) and thankfully didn’t cause a traffic accident. :-)

Just as quickly as the scene developed, it started falling apart and I was shooting like mad the entire time.  When it was said and done, I had a downpour, a rainbow and blue skies all in the same shot.

May

The May image was actually captured only a few miles to the north of where I captured the April image, but instead of being a 2010 image, this image was on Aug. 14, 2011 from just east of the Florence junction on US60.  This strike would have ended up being very close to where the rainbow was in the April image.

One thing that stands out about the 2011 monsoon season for me is the number of lightning images I captured that reminded me of stick figures.  I actually titled this one The Skater.  This particular image was captured just as the sun had set, there was still just enough ambient light left to allow for some detail to come out in the foreground, which I really think makes this image stand out.

As always, please click on either image to see a larger version or to order prints.  Also, I have a special coupon code, “Christmas2011″ which will get you 25% off on all prints.