# Storm Cell 04/02/07 I



## BoblyBill (Apr 3, 2007)

I have not had the time to get all of the pictures edited and proccessed, but here is the beginning of my outing today.


1. I was playing frisbe golf:













2.When I saw what looked like a rather nice looking thunder storm developing... (bare with me here) my illistrations (and spelling) are atrious.












3. So I went home and got my gear together and started out towards this cloud. This is what I saw as I was driving towards it (and no I wasn't driving... ok... ok... I confess I was driving). I'm sorry for the terrible image but at least if gives you an idea of the size and shape. (click on the image for bigger size).











4. Well I had been driving for about 100 miles to get to it and I had to use the restroom (no I'm not showing any of that :lmao: ). But I turned around from the storm cell and saw this. (click on the image for bigger size)











5. Then I thought that it would be cool to get parts of the cloud itself so here it is. This is my first HDR post and I only have the trail version so you'll have to overlook the watermarks, and the fact that it's also a photostitched image I think I did ok. (click on the image for bigger size)




Well that's all I have for now... I hope you enjoyed the first part of my trip.


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## gmarquez (Apr 3, 2007)

VERY cool!


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## BoblyBill (Apr 3, 2007)

Thanks. I had a good time last night.


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## Big Mike (Apr 3, 2007)

I love it.  Ever since I was little...I have been saying that I wish I could just drive around taking photos of clouds.


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## lostprophet (Apr 3, 2007)

freaking awesome


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## cigrainger (Apr 3, 2007)

Wow, just... stunning. Any advice for capturing better pictures of clouds? As in, filters, white balance approach, exposure, etc?


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## Mainiac (Apr 3, 2007)

Whoa, It must be so awesome to see these in person. I love the colors in #4 and the clouds in the HDR are stunning! :thumbup:


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## Tangerini (Apr 3, 2007)

Good gravy!  Those are some fantastic clouds!  Very nice BoblyBill


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## BoblyBill (Apr 3, 2007)

cigrainger said:


> Wow, just... stunning. Any advice for capturing better pictures of clouds? As in, filters, white balance approach, exposure, etc?


 
Well lets see... As far as filters, I'm poor and don't have any that I put onto the lense (lens? I'm never sure how that's spelled). White Balance was set on auto. I have been shooting nothing but auto bracetting (I really wish I was a better speller) of +/- 2ev. because of the HUGE range of light intensities. I have been experimenting with HDR but I'm not really pleased with the results of those so far. There quite a lot that I do post proccessing. I put a total of 7 layers on this: a duplicate layer that I sharpen (also then I can dodge and burn and not mess up the background), a levels filter, constrast filter (in which I actually de-contrast them usually a little), hue/saturation filter (I usually desaturate it a little), a cooling filter set on about 18%, and a deep blue filter set on overlay (this is the one that really makes the difference). I usually have to mask the top and erase the bottom because that overlay (sometimes I use light screen) really adds a lot of contrast. I usually have to back it off a bit. 

Does this help?

Thanks for all the comments

Nobody likes #2?   lol... I spent a lot of time on that one.


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## Passion4Film (Apr 3, 2007)

I love #5! I wish we could get some awesome weather like that here. I love love love weather.


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## LaFoto (Apr 3, 2007)

BoblyBill said:


> ... I hope you enjoyed the first part of my trip.


 
Yes, yes, yes. I have!
When and where's more!?!?!?! 
I want more, more, more!

You are very aptly filling in the void that came about when our wxnut stopped posting his "big weather" pictures. He's now more into portraits, so it seems.


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## BoblyBill (Apr 3, 2007)

LaFoto said:


> Yes, yes, yes. I have!
> When and where's more!?!?!?!
> I want more, more, more!
> 
> You are very aptly filling in the void that came about when our wxnut stopped posting his "big weather" pictures. He's now more into portraits, so it seems.


 
Yeah... what happened to that... When I first came here in October he was posting some really cool tornado pictures. In fact, some of his pictures have been what has inspired me to take storm pictures. Ironic?


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## BoblyBill (Apr 3, 2007)

When I get home tonight I'll post more... I have some 240 (well they were all bracketed so actually 80 but most of them are also panos. so really maybe 10 in all...


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## woodsac (Apr 3, 2007)

Great use of HDR on the last! HDR is a great tool for really bringing out the detail of clouds. I use it a lot...sshhhhhhh 

I'm really, really looking forward to seeing some finished shots of #3!

I really like watching your skills grow :thumbup: You've got a nack with clouds/storms.


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## chris82 (Apr 3, 2007)

Amazing pics absolutly great


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## flyingseale (Apr 3, 2007)

I like the HDR but there is a lot of ghosting in the middle where the white clouds are bulging down.  I guess this is inevitable when the clouds must have been moving quite a distance between shots?
#4 is a lovely shot.  Hard to believe it's the same scene when it looks so calm.
#3 has the potential to be my favorite.  Did you get out of the car and take any other shots of this eerie formation?

All told, I'm very envious.  We are either having flat/grey or clear/blue.  Would be nice to see a cumulus once in a while.


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## Devananda (Apr 3, 2007)

wow #1 is my fav. 
sad to see the snow go ...but then there is frisbe golf


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## BoblyBill (Apr 3, 2007)

Well here's an example of what that cloud looked like. I say example because I like an idiot... I didn't get the right side of it hence I copied part of the left side to complete the storm cell. However, this looks pretty darn close to what it actually did. (click for a bigger picture).


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## wxnut (Apr 4, 2007)

O M G!!! That is insane. What day was this, and where?  Once I get this info, can I share these with a weather fourm I belong to? WOW. They are spectacular. And Lafoto, I havent stopped taking pictures of storms. There just hasnt been any. Storm season is just around the corner, and I will be flooding the gates with pics again.

Doug Raflik aka
wxnut


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## BoblyBill (Apr 4, 2007)

wxnut said:


> O M G!!! That is insane. What day was this, and where? Once I get this info, can I share these with a weather fourm I belong to? WOW. They are spectacular. And Lafoto, I havent stopped taking pictures of storms. There just hasnt been any. Storm season is just around the corner, and I will be flooding the gates with pics again.
> 
> Doug Raflik aka
> wxnut


 
   Ummm... probably as I was taking that last picture that you see here this storm was just north of Ogallala. I'm going to sound stupid compared to you and storm terms so I'll leave most of that out, but I don't think that it was a supercell because I didn't see any rotation. If you can from any of my pictures that I have taken please let me know so that I can better look out for it next time.
   I don't mind if you share them with a forum as long as I'm allowd to check this forum out for myself. I can't wait to see some more of yours. You pictures that I saw in the net were the very ones that have inspired me to take up photography. Is there any way you could supply me with some info about storm chasing?


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## wxnut (Apr 4, 2007)

All right. I have to wait 48 hours after the event has passed to discuss it in the area of the fourm I want to, so I will try to post the pics tomorrow night, and ask if anyone was around that storm. I looked at the logs for that day and no tornados were reported, though another chaser has pictures of the view from under the updraft of a tornado warned storm in that area, so it could have been rotating.

The definition of a supercell is a long lived rotating updraft, so I can not determine if it was a supercell by pictures. Regardless, it is a VERY powerful updraft. That I can tell. What we are seeing in the first picture is a very thick, sharp edged, and probably back sheared anvil. It looks like you didnt get close to the "dangerous" part of the storms by your pictures.  The last picture posted (5) while it looks intimidating, is just mammatus on the underside of the anvil. The anvil is the highest part of the storm. I do not see the updraft base anywhere near you.  This is not a bad thing if you are looking for great pictures. You obviously got that, but if you want tornados and other low level features of the storm, you need to be able to get to the updraft base.

If this is the info you need, I can help you with that.


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## BoblyBill (Apr 4, 2007)

wxnut said:


> All right. I have to wait 48 hours after the event has passed to discuss it in the area of the fourm I want to, so I will try to post the pics tomorrow night, and ask if anyone was around that storm. I looked at the logs for that day and no tornados were reported, though another chaser has pictures of the view from under the updraft of a tornado warned storm in that area, so it could have been rotating.
> 
> The definition of a supercell is a long lived rotating updraft, so I can not determine if it was a supercell by pictures. Regardless, it is a VERY powerful updraft. That I can tell. What we are seeing in the first picture is a very thick, sharp edged, and probably back sheared anvil. It looks like you didnt get close to the "dangerous" part of the storms by your pictures. The last picture posted (5) while it looks intimidating, is just mammatus on the underside of the anvil. The anvil is the highest part of the storm. I do not see the updraft base anywhere near you. This is not a bad thing if you are looking for great pictures. You obviously got that, but if you want tornados and other low level features of the storm, you need to be able to get to the updraft base.
> 
> If this is the info you need, I can help you with that.


 
This is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. I know I wasn't near any dangerous parts those were quite a bit north of me, because by time I got to Ogallala this storm was quite a bit more north of me. I would have had to drive another 1 hour or more to get to it (I might have a picture of the low part of the cloud and a possible updraft but it's quite aways north of me, I'll see what I can do about getting a picture).


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## Kristie (Apr 4, 2007)

Lucky you! I never come across cool cloud formations like those!


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## BoblyBill (Apr 5, 2007)

Kristie said:


> Lucky you! I never come across cool cloud formations like those!


 
Well if you live anywhere between CO and OH there is a good chance you would be able to see something like this in the summer time. I'm not sure of any place overseas that has this type of weather.


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