Rough Road Ahead
This was shot on highway 41 several kilometres north of the town of Oyen. This huge storm was spiraling down towards the road ahead of us and I just had to get out and grab some frames of it with my camera.

There wasn't time to set up a tripod so I had to shoot this hand-held, which was very problematic given the falling light and the high wind. I believe I shot this at ISO 1600 and I took about 40 "insurance" shots because the wind was throwing me around so badly.
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Joe Geoghegan 1 year ago
Great shot Sean.
Peter Olexa 1 year ago
Great photo :) I like it
Carried in Cruzine: http://www.cruzine.com/2010/11/22/roads-photography/
Ratko Nedovic 2 years ago
Amazing mother nature. Great shot.
Ola Kovac 2 years ago
Beautiful photo, the courage and effort was worth it! I thank that we can enjoy beautiful, risky, unusual and very interesting picture. Yours sincerely, Ola.
Ivan 2 years ago
Very nice....I like this one
psychodaddy 2 years ago
great!
Sean McCormack 2 years ago
That's wicked Sean. I doubt the tripod would've been much good in the wind anyway!
Heather Hartkamp 2 years ago
Amazing!!! What spectacular shows Mother Nature turns on for us! So well photographed too.
PedroNeves 3 years ago
Great shot Sean!

Pedro
John Taylor 3 years ago
Wow!
Leif Westling 3 years ago
Great capture!
alifoto 3 years ago
I feel the world is endless looking at this.
kamil 3 years ago
a masterpiece.
karmel 3 years ago
the world is just beautiful.
Ricky Siegers 4 years ago
super moment...well captured...cheers
Emily Bem 4 years ago
Holy Crapola! What a sky! :)
Kellie 4 years ago
OMG...the absolute best road/weather shot I have ever seen...lucky you even in all that wind!
Marylee Martin 4 years ago
OMG! Fantastic Sky! I LOVE this!
Best
skies
ever.

Awesome.
MiukySakamoto 5 years ago
wow...just...wow
John Colbensen 5 years ago
Drama,depth,colours, composition...it's all in there and blows me away..Great shot!

JohnC
Subra 5 years ago
At ISO 1600 and hand held, it is a great shot! The timing is perfect.
Daniel 5 years ago
nice, straightforward storm shot.
Vernon Trent 5 years ago
such a dramatic shot. WOW


stunner!!!
Aurora Vanderbosch 5 years ago
One of your "classic" pieces, Sean! Love the sense of hyper-reality, with the rich, saturated colors...the sense of motion created by the road, the wind whipping the local flora into a frenzy, and the spiraling darkeness gathering overhead...

It reminds me of a few lines from "You Darkness" by Rilke:

But the darkness pulls in everything;
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them!—
powers and people—

and it is possible a great energy
is moving near me.

I have faith in nights
John Finn 5 years ago
Powerful image.
Jennie 5 years ago
Fantastic composition... not even kidding.... the leading lines the colors... wow. Beautiful. Great work.
Kajsa Lilius 5 years ago
This is definitely a "wow" - great work! I really like the wide angle view.
Marcelo Musacchio 5 years ago
What amazing shot!!
remo rufer 5 years ago
wow, ISO 1600? great work!
Looks like a tornado in the making.. Amazing photo, graphic and visual.. love the lines and the colours. fascinating!
Bernard Boutin 5 years ago
love that alberta weather shot...I think I would be turning around and headed the other way...very dramatic...love the colour an composition
Pierre Chaton 5 years ago
Just perfect. A gust of wind comes out of this image.
Russell 5 years ago
Very cool. Almost a 3-D feeling with the storm ceiling over you.
Phil DeFabio 5 years ago
Great work! Your dedication to the shot definitely paid off.
Richard McDade 5 years ago
A study in converging lines - hugely dramatic. Richard
James Bitz 5 years ago
AMAZING!
Ulf Börjesson 5 years ago
In one word: Wow!
Anne Desplantez 5 years ago
Wonderful! Sometimes, photographs are at the right place at the right moment... But it's not enough to make a good photo. You knew how to do it, bravo!
Anne
Robin Roels 5 years ago
I can see that the cows flew away, even the 'bombs' that they left on the scene. Are you kidding me about the iso 1600. One thing is for sure, you've captured another phenomenon of nature!
cheers
robin
Sean McCormick  It was 1600. Took a lot of work to clean up using Noise Ninja, plus a lot of manual touch up in the sky.
Mal Smart 5 years ago
wonderful dramatic scene, super shot. mal
Nikola Matic 5 years ago
Well done!
Roger 5 years ago
truly amazing shot! that cloud looks pretty evil.
Van den Houte Jef 5 years ago
The yellow line and the daqrk cloud make a strong 'dramatic' composition
lucian olteanu 5 years ago
powerful!!
Kim Parsell 5 years ago
This is one of those images that makes you just say "wow!' when it displays on the screen. You were definitely in the right place at the right time - this is a gorgeous shot!
Zachary Rolen 5 years ago
This is amazing. The road AND the storm cloud leading the eye to a distant vanishing point. Incredible colors... very impressive, what a scene!
mark boyle 5 years ago
Awesome shot Sean
Not only in the right place at the right time, you have also composed a memorable image.
Well done...
John Buttress 5 years ago
Wow! Amazing sky. Nicely captured. I think the completely empty road, and its central placement, add to the drama of the scene. Nice shot.
David Vandre 5 years ago
This is incredible. The clouds and the road pull the viewer into the horizon. The light and colors add to the overall effect. Beautifully done.
Ralf Stelander, Ali Noohi, PhotoCosma and 78 more people added this to favorites
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Equipment
Canon 5D, Sigma 12-24 EX, hand-held
Location
Oyen, Alberta, Canada
Date
20070724
Unique views
123120
Comments
53
Category
Landscape
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