You can pick the location, the time of day, the time of year, but you cannot control the weather. Storm on Starry Night is an exhibit of photographs of a small, isolated thunderstorm passing over the Southwest corner of Green Lake, Wisconsin on a summer night. The storm was so compact that the night sky was easily visible around the storm cell. Neither wind nor rain was a concern from my shooting location on the lakeshore. To capture, I set various exposure lengths of 1 to 10 seconds and took multiple photos in the hope of capturing lightning strikes while the shutter was open. This is much easier when there is regular and repeated activity in the clouds. Trying to wait for lightning to strike and then take a photo would be too late to capture anything. The first part in the series captures the storm itself. The later part in the series is after the storm clears and the Milky Way galaxy appears overhead.
One of two photos that captures visible lightning arcs in the thunderhead cloud. At only a five second exposure it is the brightest illumination of the cloud by multiple simultaneous lightning strikes internal to the cloud. Stars in the night sky are in both corners of the shot, and the orange glow at the bottom of the cloud is from town lights illuminating the underside of the cloud bank as it passes overhead.
The second photograph to show lightning bolts. Rumbling in the Heavens is the darkest shot. Limited to a two second exposure this photograph shows electrical activity at the top of the thunderhead cloud.
Another two second exposure. This time with only partial illumination of the thunderhead by internal lightning strikes. This gives a different highlight and contrast to the cloud bank.
Final photograph in the series focused on the storm itself. Lightning strikes in the core of the thunderhead highlight the center. Stars in the night sky can be clearly seen over storm bank.
Taking a new perspective along the lakeshore. The storm starts to break up and move away. Lightning strikes still illuminate the clouds seen on the left. The Milky Way galaxy comes into view in the night sky on the right. A bit of trivia. If you look center frame at the shoreline right above the tree line you will notice a short streak of red fire reflected in the water. That is not lightning. I have taken several other photos not published in this collection that also shows this same streak of light slowly rising and making its way up and arcing over and then down across the lake in front of the storm. My best guess is that someone released a sky lantern over the lake.
The panorama photograph that is Milky Way over Passing Storm is a combination of Dreamscape and another photo. Presented here in its standalone format you can compare how framing composition between the two works changes the focus. The lighting on the cloud bank draws your attention in this composition.
This a panoramic image consists of two individual photographs taken with a 35 mm lens. A rare, isolated thunderstorm had no surrounding cloud cover associated with it, so the night sky around the thunderheads was completely clear. On the left is the storm naturally illuminated by the lightning strikes. The right is the Milky Way over the lake just as the storm is moving off. Given the dynamic nature of storm clouds these were the only two photographs taken close enough together in time to facilitate merging together into a panoramic shot together in Adobe Lightroom.
This photograph received honorable mention in the 2021 International Photography Awards for Special - Panorama / Panoramic (Non-Professional)
This photography is a combination of Dreamscape also included in this exhibition, and After the Storm which is not on display at this time. The focus of the composition changes to the Milky Way galaxy in this work when compared to Dreamscape.
Last photo of the exhibition. Focused more on the Milky Way galaxy, with just a few remnants of the storm clouds visible in frame yet.