Nat Geo's Photo Of The Day

On occassion I browse through the National Geographic website to check out recent news on new species and whatnot. Today I stumbled across the Photo Of The Day page and was really impressed by the image for Oct 4, 2012. Coming from a state where big thunder storms are a regularity, I often miss those looming clouds and lighning shows out here in Montana. Every time we get even a hiccup of a thunder storm here in Billings I just crave a big storm, curled up in my basement at home watching the county blocks on the weather channel light up with sever storm warnings and tracking funnel clouds and tornados that have touch down.

I find such power and beauty in the scene of a storm and photographer Mitch Dobrowner truly captured the mysterious and dangerous spirit of the storm in this photo. He works generally in black an white landscapes, bringing great depth and adding a dramatic element to this photo. The scene is also quite reminiscent of home to me, giving a sense of ease and familiarity. I feel that had the photo lacked the lightening, it still would be a fantastic image. The lightning strike simply adds an element of interest, especially as it weaves within a cloud. The road dead center leads the eye into the image toward the almost black horizon line that really makes the lighting contrast stand out.

Mitch Dobrowner's website is full of equally amazing photographs of different natural and urban landscapes: http://www.mitchdobrowner.com/index.html