Clouds, rain and storms were forecast yesterday for the Eastern Plains. So I headed out towards Bennett and was not disappointed.
I made several images along County Road 162, hoping to capture big skies and weather. This was what I came for!
Nearby, there were trees in a gully just below the ridge line. A monochrome image did justice to this image.
After passing through Kiowa, I headed south. There were many snow banks remaining from the winter storms in the shaded north facing slopes in this area. There is bridge over Bijou Creek where I stopped. The blue and white cloudy sky was reflected in the running water of the creek.
Earlier in the day, I had seen some image with ICM (intentional camera movement). ICM generally works best with low light levels. This allows long shutter speeds to be achieved without filters. In this case, I stopped the aperture down and panned the camera horizontally for this image.
It was getting late in the day, so I turned back towards Kiowa. While driving, the sun dropped below the clouds to reveal a fabulous sunset just before I reached the water tower for Kiowa. The tower is located on high ground. From this point, one can see the Rocky Mountains on the horizon.
I had a choice of two routes back home; west through Kiowa facing direct sun or north to Bennett. So it was north. After a few minutes driving, I was rewarded with clouds lit by the setting sun.
After making this image, I turned around. By this time, the sun was lighting up another cloud bank on the east.
Spectacular.