Tropic Thunder by Peter Coskun Nature Photography

Tropic Thunder by Peter Coskun Nature Photography

The drive from Phoenix to Montana passes through some incredible places that could have easily made the trip a month long instead of a week. While traveling through Utah on the never ending highway 89 we noticed some dark clouds hovering near Bryce Canyon. The closer we got, the more intense it looked. As we inched closer to highway 12, we found ourselves being drenched in pouring rain (the car at least). With lightning going off and thunder overtaking the music playing in the vehicle, we knew that there was a chance we would stop and try to shoot. It was decided that we would head into Bryce Canyon and see if we could get some stormy goods. There was a massive shelf cloud that seemed to stretch almost as far as the eye could see, and I would have photographed it had I found a spot to pull off and not been jammed up behind a Cruise America RV. Alas, we kept on going and got into the park. The storm seemed to be dying off a bit, so we headed to the closest point which was sunrise point. As soon as we parked, we grabbed our gear and wandered to the first opening over Bryce Canyon. It wasn’t the most ideal spot, but after thinking about it, it made the scene a little more unique compared to many images from this place. With the cameras set up and the rain jacket zipped up and the lightning trigger rolling all I had to do was sit back and relax. It didn’t take long to pick up the first strike, which also happened to be the only strike I photographed. It was a good one though, and when I zoomed in it appeared as if the bolt struck something and exploded. Ironically, the strike hit the town of Tropic, Utah, and produced some pretty good thunder hence the title.

Peter Coskun Nature Photography: Photos