Rolling Thunder – 2024

It was July 6th during our 2024 Living Sky Tours workshop. Our group was in the Castle Butte area, and there were pulse thunderstorms across the south of the province, so we set out with one mission: photograph lightning. Pulse storms are intense but unpredictable, each offering only short bursts of activity before dissipating, which meant we had to stay ready and be quick with our setups. As we tracked one of these storms, we spotted an old, abandoned home perched on a hill, an ideal foreground to showcase a potential approaching storm.

We quickly pulled over, grabbed our gear, and got into position. The house was weathered but beautiful, standing alone against the prairie sky, and seemed to invite the drama of the passing storm. As we jumped out of the vehicle, we realized the foreground was unexpectedly dotted with delicate white/purple flowers. At first glance, we didn’t recognize them, but then one of the guests identified them as Hedge Bindweed. These flowers, often overlooked, added an unexpected touch of beauty to the scene, their gentle petals contrasting perfectly with the ominous dark clouds in the distance.

As the storm we were chasing passed just to the east of the house, the sky began to darken to the northwest, and I knew there was going to be an opportunity to capture some lightning as the new storm approached the house. It was a surreal blend of tranquillity and intensity, the calm prairie landscape mingling with the fierce power of the storm.

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