The Calm Before the Storm

thebeginning · Oct 24, 2005

Here are a couple of the shots I took as a short series of my town before hurricane rita. Two days before the hurricane, even the quietest of streets were lined with abandoned vehicles and people trying to leave. When i went the next day just before the edge of the storm rolled in, it was almost a ghost town. The only people in sight were policemen, and all businesses and gas stations were closed down and empty. Walmart's front doors had been blocked to protect the building from debris and from potential looters.

one of the main roads that runs through my area was completely empty. It was pretty erie seeing noone for miles...

Here's a photo of one church that had a sign in front of it that read 'pray':

not alot of photos, the others i havent messed with much yet. thanks for looking though!

LittleMan · Oct 25, 2005

That's crazy... it looks like a ghost town.
Great photos! :thumbup:
I was wondering what it looked like over there before the hurricane hit.

danalec99 · Oct 25, 2005

which lens, dan?

nice stuff!

thebeginning · Oct 25, 2005

those were all taken with my tamron 17-35. it's a terrific little lens, i love it.

thanks for the comments guys!

Corry · Oct 25, 2005

Whoa...the sky in that second one is SCARY.

elsaspet · Oct 25, 2005

Those are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

thebeginning · Oct 26, 2005

thanks!

JonK · Oct 26, 2005

Those skies really tell the story...great shots.

cbay · Oct 27, 2005

There great! Great Work! I love the 2nd...

geoffros · Oct 27, 2005

god the sky is crazy. i cant believe how much definition the clouds have. vnice photos mate

sanyukta sharma · Oct 31, 2005

The Wallmart photo with that huge sign really captures the danger, sense of impending doom, "calm before the storm". Maybe its because there is no one for whom that huge a sign is needed.

hammy · Nov 1, 2005

I'm an amateur, and have real trouble making shots like that.

I often do attempt shots like this where the clouds are dark and interesting, but I always come up short. My shots seem to turn drained out, with little or lack of color or detail on the horizon(or for example here the Walmart, or the road or church).
Any tips on getting nice shots like these? I like these shots because the sky appears vivid and deep and so do the buildings. I'm lost.

thebeginning · Nov 1, 2005

thanks guys!

hammy, there are many methods to do this. First, you could get a polarizer filter. It's not necessary though (i dont use one). For high contrast scenes like this I just meter for the foreground then the background and use an exposure that is in between those readings. Also it is best to shoot at the lowest contrast setting to preserve shadow and highlight detail. Then afterwards you can use photoshop to add contrast and saturation back in (i'm still learning to make my editing less obvious...i have a problem with that).