Best of 2008.

I sometimes visit a particular photography forum. I don't really contribute a whole lot, to be honest. I use it more for self-centered purposes. It helps me get out of ruts, and is where I've been able to get honest feedback. One of the things recently done there was to have each person choose their favorite shot taken in 2008. I had a lot of pictures I thought were cool. But this is the one I chose.

Why? Well... for one, lightning is impossible very difficult to photograph. You can't just wait until you see a flash and then push the shutter. If you do it that way, you get a whole bunch of black rectangles to stare at. You have to set the camera up, on a fairly slow shutter speed. And you have to just click. Click. Click. And hope that you've got the focus right. And the ISO. And the aperture. And the shutter speed. And hope you've got the camera pointing in the right direction. And you have to somehow prevent rain from getting all over it. Or you. And you should really try to avoid electrocution.

Personally, I find storms exhilirating. The night this shot was taken, I drug my husband out in the worst electrical storm we had all summer. We drove up to the top of a ridge and we set up the camera and huddled in the back of our Jimmy. The wind was howling, the rain hadn't hit yet, and the thunder was almost constant. There were bolts that streaked from horizon to horizon - seriously. Knowing that, this shot seems a little lame. But even so...

Every once in a while, you get lucky. And so, without futher ado, I bring my my best shot of 2008. Why don't you share yours?? I'd love to see them... leave me a comment and I'll check it out. If you want, I'll even link to it from here...