Other Areas of the Sky Were More Interesting

A line of storms, some severe, were moving from the Mason City and Waterloo Iowa areas southeast toward Cedar Rapids on the evening of Wednesday, July 25, 2018. In response to this I set up a spotting position on Hampshire Circle, just north of Prescott Lane and just south of East Robins Road in Marion, Iowa. I was not optimistic about capturing good shots from these storms, however, as it was growing dark and they were beginning to fizzle out as they drew nearer. But...all was not lost as other areas of the sky provided some very nice photo opportunities. Above, some of the leading storm clouds in the northeast sky were passing over this clump of wildflowers at 8:38 pm CDT. This image is a 1/15 second exposure at f/4.5, 200 ISO and 18mm focal length.

8:45 pm. Panorama looking west toward a housing development in Marion. Dark clouds from the approaching line of storms can be seen at right. 1/10 second exposure at f/6.3, 200 ISO and 18mm focal length.

8:48 pm. A waxing gibbous moon is thinly veiled by clouds in the southeast sky. 1/15 second exposure at f/5.6, 200 ISO and 55mm focal length.

9:01 pm. Panorama looking south. 1/6 second exposure at f/3.5, 400 ISO and 18mm focal length.

9:01 pm. Panorama looking SSW. Same settings as image above it. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.