365 Photo Project - Day 18

Taken: January 18, 2010

Location: Healdsburg, CA

Taken: January 18, 2010, approx. 5:15 p.m.

Location: Russian River, Healdsburg, CA

Today was about rain. And wind. And thunder and lightning too. We woke up to a grey-white sky, the entire bedroom dulled by the darkness of the morning. The kind of weather that’s made for the snooze button. The rain came in drips and drops around midday but then just before three, the skies opened up and it started to rain horizontal. It slammed against the windows, brought down branches from the blue oaks in the back, so many that I had to move my car.

Within an hour, water was streaming off the roof in big ropes, splashing off the porch railing in thunks, like baseballs off wooden bats.

And then just like that, it was over. The sun didn’t quite make it to the show but there was a gorgeous shimmering light that could be seen through the clouds, oddly splitting the horizon; to the south the sky was bright. But to the north, it was dark with ominous clouds as far as you could see.

The two images today represent the yin and yang of the day.

The first shot was taken in my backyard in the bright of the after-rain, the moment where you instinctively scan the horizon for a rainbow. I was standing on the small back porch off of the guest room, which looks east toward a stream that is gorging itself on the recent rains. I’m told these trees are rare blue oaks and when it really pours, the lichen on their barks shimmers like green glitter. I almost didn’t post this today because it’s so close in style and tone to yesterday’s shot. But when I looked over today’s stash of pictures, it stood out. So, here it be.

The second was a shot I got when I drove into my office in the late afternoon – toward the threatening clouds. I crossed the Russian River and couldn’t believe how much the weekend rains had changed it. It was moving fast, dyed brown from loose mud and debris. Near the dam, it was rolling like serious rapids. I tried to capture the moment but I was racing against the light and losing. The shots I did end up liking were almost an afterthought. A few final snaps of the shutter before getting back in my car. They were of the bridge itself, taken in the very last moments of the day, big fat raindrops falling on my head like a leaky faucet.

We’re do for another several days of this weather and the locals tell me it will make the river even more dramatic. Since I pass it nearly every day, I’ll be paying close attention. Maybe I’ll get a shot worth sharing.

Both of these were shot with my K100D. Edited in Photoshop.