A lovely afternoon of sunshine and showers found my wife Liz and I enjoying a walk along the promenade at Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula.
As we strolled back to our car, my eye was captivated by an very large and threatening cumulonimbus storm cloud to the northeast, over Liverpool on the far side of the river Mersey.
So it was but a drive of a few minutes from Hoylake over to New Brighton and the Fort Perch Rock car park, giving views out over the Mersey to the impressive red cranes of Liverpool Container Terminal 2.
By this time the storm cloud had drifted further northwards, but was still a very impressive sight and well worth shooting the hundreds of still images needed to create this time lapse video.
As the shoot progressed I noticed the edge of another storm cell creep across my viewfinder from behind me, and I didn't have too much longer to wait until the first few fat raindrops hit the front of my camera's optics.
Normally I'll keep shooting through light showers, but looking behind me and seeing what was rapidly approaching I decided discretion was the better part of valour.
So I switched off the camera and beat a hasty retreat back to our car, just in time to toss the camera and tripod onto the back seat before the deluge hit.
But I just love being in, and photographing, dramatic weather.
Now when is the next storm due?
Filename - merseyside timelapse 07
Camera - Canon EOS 6DMK2
Lens - 17-40mm zoom @ 20mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 1/640 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Exposure (end of sequence) - 1/640 sec @ f/5, ISO100
Filters - 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to reduce the brightness of the sky relative to the foreground.
Shooting interval - 2 sec
Music - Bach Cello Suite No. 1, G Major, Prelude - Cooper Cannell
Location - Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton, Wirral, Merseyside, England
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and 1080p HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 18 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2023 unless otherwise stated.