Stormy Weather Pictures
Stormy weather and rainy days are not ordinarily something that people like, or look for. My wife is a perfect example of that. She loves the sun and blue sky. Many photographers may also be fair-weather photographers and prefer to stay home when the weather turns bad.
I, on the other hand, like many other landscape photographers, love the rain, and stormy weather.
Now I’m not talking about the grey, miserable drizzly English days. Rather, I love the dramatic days, when there are scattered showers that bring scattered clouds, scattered rain showers and more importantly, scattered light.
I am fortunate enough to also have a home in Slovenia, which being wedged between the Alps and Adriatic Sea, frequently gets summer storms. I’m on the northern side of the capital, Ljubljana, so for me it’s a 20-minute drive to a location where I can photograph the mountains. I’m also just 30 minutes from Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj. To the south is the Ljubljana Moors, a huge marshland that is also frequented by stormy weather.
So, over the years I have been able to head out towards the storms. When others are running away, I’m running to capture a few great images. Here are some of my favourites:
Lake Bohinj
I was fortunate enough to arrive at Lake Bohinj one time just as a massive hailstorm blew over. After dropping off some flyers at the tourist information centre I got in my car just as it hit. While others were driving for cover, I immediately headed down to the lakeside and waited for it to pass. When it did, I ran out and got these, among many other, photos:
Note the dramatic clouds and light here. Also how the scattered light is spotlighting the wooden boathouse at the bottom right corner.
I love the mood of this image and how the light is sparkling across the lake.
On another visit:
Lake Bled
After a night of heavy rain, my photography student expressed concern about whether I would cancel our early morning workshop. However, he soon saw it was worth it.
Days like this can also produce great Black and White photos.
The long exposure here has smoothed out the water and added more drama to the clouds
Rainbows
This photo was taken just before the storm hit. My workshop student and I had to shelter under umbrellas and ride it out, as there was nowhere else to shelter. But it was worth it.
I took these two rainbow photos on a visit to Bled with my family. A rainstorm was blowing in so we went to the restaurant to eat. My wife went to the car for something and upon her return informed me there was a rainbow outside. I was off before she finished the sentence.
Kamnik Alps and Krvavec Mountain
North of Ljubljana, around the airport, you get great views of the Kamnik Alps and Krvavec mountain and ski resort. There are many different viewpoints of the mountains, and there are often storm clouds building over the peaks. Here are a few of my favourites:
When photographing these two images above the storm was moving in fast at dusk. The storm hit me just as I had taken these, and I had to throw my camera and tripod in the back of the car and dive for cover as the storm engulfed the car in torrential rain.
Here I was about to leave because the light was not very interesting, when suddenly I noticed the clouds starting to darken, and soon after a storm passed over the mountains and produced some more dramatic light.
In the photo above it was engulfed in the storm, then as you can see below as it moved over beautiful fell on the mountain peaks. Thankfully it stayed over the mountains and moved eastward and didn’t hit me.
In the photo below you can see how storm light is great at spotlighting hillside villages. In this photo the village of Šenturška Gora is lit, while everything else is in the shadow of the storm.
The long (30 second) exposure has made the clouds look like waves splashing over the mountains.
Again here I headed out after an evening storm as the clouds began to clear.
Ljubljana
The northern suburbs of Ljubljana often experiences passing storms, and this is one of my favourite captures of a storm approaching from the west. It was early evening and sun was still falling on the field, producing great light.
Lightning
You also get great lightning storms in Slovenia when the cold air from the north clashes with the hot air from the south. Living in a 6th floor apartment, I often get to capture some from the safety of the bedroom window:
So there you have it, a small collection of some of my favourite stormy weather pictures from Slovenia. Stay tuned for more.
For some great locations for photography in Slovenia, check out my posts here
