Well, when we arrived after a 75-minute drive, the sun was doing its best to break through the clouds, and into the water we all went. The sky to the north still looked rather nasty but we determined that it was headed away from us. Not so.
Before long, it looked like this:
(18-55mm f14 1/1250 sec ISO800)
We debated whether we should leave the beach area, but that decision was made for us, and most of the beach goers, with the first thunderclap. The clouds quickly moved away to the east and we took up our place again on the beach and back in the water. It looked like we might escape it yet:
(18-55mm f5.6 1/200 sec ISO200)
Although we heard the occasional faraway rumble, the weather held up nicely and we resumed our water fun for the next hour. However, the sky didn't clear, and in fact, the rain we could see falling to the north appeared to be coming our way. We ignored it as long as we could, thinking wishfully that it would bypass us. We wished for about 5 minutes longer than we should have. We suddenly noticed that the black clouds had gathered right over our heads and were about to burst open on us. We scrambled to gather all the beach paraphernalia and scurried across the beach, over the road, and into the parking lot. Too late - the torrential downpour pelted us before we made it. However, since we were wet anyway, it didn't really matter, and we drove back in our soggy bathing suits. We'll try to clean all the beach sand out of the rental car tomorrow (and hopefully the seats are dry by then too).
I quickly made this photo as everyone was gathering everything - these were the clouds we had ignored just before the downpour:
(18-55mm f8 1/200 sec ISO200)
26 comments:
Great cloud shots Rick.
The pictures are wonderful, but ... didn't you feel afraid for no time? =O
Kisses and a great week.
Wow! You can just see the anger in those clouds...good thing there wasn't lightening. Or was there? Anyway, good thing you got out of there when you did! Awesome shots.
Well those are some beautiful clouds, though I'm sure they didn't look very beautiful to those who wanted to enjoy a sunny day at the beach.
Those clouds look angry.
Those clouds have the power to determine what kind of day at the beach you will have! Apparently they decided to let you play a little while...awesome sky, Rick! I like the bright colors of the sand chairs against the gray, black and blue background.
Clouds make a picture,but here the clouds are the picture. I never tire of looking at great clouds.
@imac - thanks mac!
@teca - thank you teca; yes, once we heard loud thunder nearby we got out of the water and off the beach quickly!
Have a great week! Beijos!!
@CherylK - we didn't see any at first - the thunder warned us; then we got out of there ! Thank you Cheryl.
@Scott - ha ha, I figured if they were going to cut our day at the beach short they might as well serve for today's post.
And in my haste to get my post done to meet a different deadline I totally forgot about Sunset Sunday - I'll have to remember to make it Sunset Monday, just this once.
@Ruth's Photo Blog - oh they were angry alright, and they did end up taking it out on us !
@Carolyn Ford - well, they did let us enjoy the water for a little while :) Thanks Carolyn - those chairs (and some umbrellas which were taken down due to the wind) were about the only colour we had there today.
@Chad - thank you Chad - but they didn't make our day ;-)
de magnifiques nuages menaçants
et des photos superbes !!
have a great week Rick !
bisous
i love a good thunderstorm...
but from a safer place though.
you did get some amazing photos.
hope your camera stayed good and dry!
Wow, that last photo says so much. I love your writing style Rick, you have a way with words that can put me, the reader, right alongside the visitors at the beach, not that I would have wanted to be there with this nasty weather, but nonetheless I feel as though I was there. Now that's awesome writing, the photos are the icing on the cake so to speak.
Happy Monday!
The second picture is the definition of a PARADOX: Beautifully angry :-)
If we human beings can only look that handsome when we are angry!
Greetz,
Joseph
viele Grüße von Jasmin,ich hatte vor vielen Jahren in Rumänien am Schwarzen Meer so ein Gewitter erlebt, es konnte einfach nicht weiterziehen über das Meer, schöne Fotos...
@marty - merci marty! I hope your week is a good one too! Beaucoup de bisous !!
@chasity - thanks Chas; I don't like to take chances with getting zapped either !!
I think I need to get my sensor cleaned - not sure whether there's dust or a dried up water spot on it.
@darlin - thank you Darlene! I'm happy to hear you say that the words also help bring a bit of a story to life. Usually that's what photos are for. Not sure how your French is (mine is very rusty, and I should have paid more attention in class ...) but you might have noticed from my blog url that it's French for 1,000 words - mille mots, as in 'a picture is worth ...'. But even though I have the pictures, sometimes I add another 1,000 words ;-)
My Monday was awesome - hope yours was too!
@CarreraCaballo ha ha, thanks Joseph; I decided to juxtapose the 'happy' beach scene with the slightly less happy. I've not seen to many 'nice-looking' angry people ;-)
@jasmin - dankeschön Jasmin ! Mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut, aber ich kann es noch lesen. Gutentag!
Pretty brave to sit out there under those clouds if I do say so. Almost doesn't look like summer to a Californian.
@Janell - foolhardy might be a better word ;-)
The skies didn't look like summer but the temperature was - about 92, and the water was just as warm! Most afternoons there were some thunderstorms but the days were quite hot.
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