The experience of shooting landscape photos comes in all shapes and sizes. It can involve the adventure of driving hours into the middle of now where at any time of the day or night. Or when the clouds line up just right for an epic 'fiery' sunset. Though the greatest experience I have felt in Landscape photography happened on Saturday night the 14th of November. This is my story.

The hardest part of any shoot is when motivation is at its lowest. On many days its so hard to get out and shoot because you have had 4 or 5 consecutive failed nights before. On this particular day my girlfriend Kayla and myself had just finished an 8 hour shift and the last thing we wanted to do is get back in the car and go out again. With only a half hour before sunset we raced over to the closest beach which was Cottesloe. Arriving there we came to a shock of a lifetime, 2 large storm cells were forming off the coast striking lightning every couple of seconds. We had just had one of the hottest days of the year and now the sky was lighting up like a christmas tree!

Moving across the horizon as the sun set we were treated to a lightning storm like no other, for the next hour the storm rolled through until it was over our heads, continuing to light up the sky as it swept through Perth. Watching a storm of this magnitude sent shivers up our spine with nothing comparing to the force of nature. Better yet is capturing in a photo not just to show off a storm but as a landscape image too.

This was the last image that i took from the night and was the result of a bracketed exposure, it was now dark enough that the lightning was appearing clearly during the long exposures which made it quite easy to capture. It was twice as difficult to catch the lightning as the sunset because you needed to photograph the lightning very quickly as you saw it light up the sky so there were a lot of missed attempts. Nonetheless this night was unforgettable and was too good not to right about. It was such a special night and has reinvigorated myself to keep shooting when every bone in your body is telling you not too. I hope this motivates at least someone to go out and take some snaps in the chance of experiencing something extra special.
Peace,

Michael Evans