|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| . | |||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rangefinder
Magazine Rf Cookbook by Jake Butler
Seconds tick by while the light changes. I wait for the softening in the same manner I wait for the lightning strike. The purpose of outdoor photography originates itself in these moments. Image seekers poise to capture the one magical frame that holds the memory of that instant. The beauty of the elements was gripping. I started out on a late afternoon hike with gear in tow up to my favorite sunset peak. Halfway up the slope, I felt the cool gusty winds calling for the rains to come. I continued on towards the The storm moved away from the land and out to sea. I wrung out my shirt, grabbed my gear, and headed for the shores of the bay. With a fresh coat of insect repellent applied, I arrived on the beach just in time for the light display. I set up my tripod and was ready to strap on the umbrella that I’d learned to have with me at all times with some tape, when I realized it wasn’t even sprinkling where I was standing. The storm was holding just off shore in a very concentrated manner. I set up my Pentax 645, attaching the wide-angle 33–55mm zoom lens to the body. The sand was still wet from the storm and receding tide. Sheets of rain moved about in a dance on the horizon. The lightning struck both in front of and behind the natural diffusion as the reflections gleamed off of the wet beach in front of me. With my cable release I was able to try a variety of different long shutter speeds, while keeping the aperture at f/8 for maximum sharpness throughout the frame. Out of the sequence, this single strike is by far the most powerful image. INGREDIENTS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Never had I seen the evolution of a thunderhead so clearly before my stead as on the beaches of the northwestern coast of Costa Rica. The thunderhead developed organically, the canvas swirls with tonal variations and light. My “gringo summer” independent study allowed for the meditation and creative submersion needed to capture this shot. Beholding the power of nature is inspirational and the tropical Costa Rican winter is one of those perfect combinations of place and time for this type of experience.