Chasing the Rumble

An angry looking Thunderstorm over Umhlanga Rocks...

I was slowly getting ready for bed after a long day, and my cats were waiting patiently on the bed for me to join them, when I heard the familiar rumble of a distant thunderstorm.

I looked out my window, and I saw distant flashes light up the night sky.

The storm was coming from the north western side further inland, so I rushed up to the highway (the M4) that runs behind my house and pointed my camera towards the storm.

The wind was very warm, and coming from behind me, as it was being drawn towards the storm in front of me.  The roads were a lot busier than I had anticipated, but the car's lights made for interesting light trails on my photos.

At first, I couldn't see any lightning strikes, but the distant flashes illuminated incredible structures in the clouds. The storm looked angry and ominous...

The strikes started appearing on the horizon, and slowly the strikes grew bigger and bigger as the storm drew closer.

Exactly 14 drops of rain fell from the sky (I counted them). Most of those drops landed on my car to dirty it, and the rest landed on the lens of my camera which forced me to stop photographing the storm.

Before I stopped, however, this is what I managed to capture...

The first lightning photo is a composite image created from some of the images that I've captured, which have then been overlayed to create a single image, showcasing the strikes that I managed to capture.

South Africa has the most incredible beauty, and her storms are amazing.

Keep looking for the beauty. It's there...

I am Proudly South African.