When the skies just won't cooperate...

Central Texas has been getting some terrific rain over the last couple of months, and it's much needed given the drought that we have been in for the last few years. However, it hasn't exactly made for great opportunities to go out and observe and image the night sky.

So, instead, I've been trying to capture some more interesting lightning shots. Quite a few storms have passed through the area, some violent, some rather calm. Some have caused tornado activity further north, but down here we've had a bit of flooding and a lot of ground-strike lightning.

Below is a shot taken near a town called Bartlett, east of Georgetown. I drove around behind the storm as it was moving west, and found a nice country road to help make the image more interesting. This is a couple of 10 second exposures, stacked, and I used my car lights to provide lighting from the road.

Always remember - safety first! Best not to shoot directly in or in front of the path of a storm. Lightning strikes are random and standing around with heavy, metal equipment won't help your survival chances in such an event!