While my friends in the NorthEast are scurrying to the coastal mid-states to capture the incredible beauty of the falls foliage, I am left to fondly reminisce on similar chases during years gone by while I review the backlog of images I've taken from weeks gone by. The highlight of that review was the images I captured a few weeks ago during southern Arizona's last great storm of 2018.

Spawned by a Pacific ocean hurricane that made its way up the Baja coast before heading inland to our region, the storm brought much-needed rain to our desiccated desert area, along with an abundance of powerful lightning. Long before the sun rose for the day, until late in the afternoon, the horizon was illuminated by a steady barrage of ruthlessly explosive streaks of light. It was a double windfall for the regions storm chasers.

Early on in the storm, just as the sun was rising, I stood and witnessed this spectacular bolt strike the valley fields in front of Mexicos San Jose Mountain. As the sun rose in the east, casting shades of autumnal color into the silver-tinged, rain-bloated clouds, the storm raged from the west shrouding the landscape in shadows of gray and black. It was a spectacle unique to this region.

The change of seasons in the east is truly dramatic, but no more so than the change of seasons in the high desert of southern Arizona. I am blessed to be its scribe.
Shoot Date: October 23, 2018
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Aperture priority 1.3 sec at f/8.0 ‒ ²⁄₃ EV
Lens: EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM @ 26 mm
ISO: 50