I was shopping when I saw the thunderstorm brewing. I stopped at my house to drop off the shopping and pick up my camera gear. Then, I drove 17 miles east to a spot near Hadrian’s Wall and hiked up to the Wall to wait for the storm to arrive. Weather systems here usually travel from west to east, and thankfully, this one was right on course.
There is something less than sensible about having a hobby that leads you to stand on a hillside with rain and hail coming down and thunder crackling all around. I managed to capture four different images: one with pre-storm sunshine, two at the height of the storm—very gloomy with heavy rain and hail, three just as the storm passed, and four, this one, with this set of storms moving off to the east while it was still raining, and another set of thunderstorms coming in behind me.
To maximize quality, this is a five-shot stitched panorama with the camera in portrait orientation. This is an example of knowing your local area and being ready to react when the conditions are promising. I often photograph this stretch of the Wall, but this is definitely my best from here. However, it doesn’t stop me from returning when the conditions look promising.
