It was a dark and Stormy Day

Sandpiper Beach during a break in the storms

So dark and stormy, in fact, that we quit working at noon and went home to dry out. The wind was blowing 70km/h and the rain was driving in sideways.

Somewhere around 4:30 the weather briefly broke and the sun made a very fleeting appearance. I've been fascinated, lately, by HDR photography and it seemed that this was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

I was hoping for the glorious rainbow shot, but apparently I went the wrong direction and got the sinister clouds instead. I tried a few different shots, but this was the only one that worked at all. Give it a click to see it in it's full glory.

Here is what I learned from this experience:

• Scenes with higher contrast work better
• Start at -4EV and take 5 shots up to +4EV for better results
• Make sure the tripod is secure
• In a windstorm, moving things like birds and trees look like specks on the lens or are blurred.
• Wear warmer clothing