Riders of the Storm Photo

Photographer’s Note

I normally work in Asuncion, but from time to time I have jobs in Ciudad del Este, which is a city located more or less, 300Km away from where I am located.
This city is a very peculiar one, and I will post pics taken righ there soon, I hope; and I will specially dedicate them to Isabelle and Johny Blue, cause I believe they know some "features" of the border between Brazil and Paraguay.
During one of the trips to Ciudad del Este, we were driving back home, and a storm was "following us", the skies were really menacing, it was in the afternoon, and the sun was reflecting the clouds which were still white, but the dark ones were approaching us really fast. I believe this was near Caaguazu city, and we stopped there to take pictures and enjoy the fresh air preceding the storm. Later on, we were hit by the storm, and it was really a big one, I remember we had to stop cause it was raining so heavily that it was dangerous to continue. I tried then to take some pictures of lightning strikes, but that is a different story.

Quite difficult to handle the big contrast between the burning clouds and the dark and shadowed silhouettes of the "cocoteros".

Almost no changes, only crop and contrast.
Thanks for your time.
(I think windows XP is playing games with me, the dates are completely not accurate, but it is not important at all).

jurgen, alainh, RGatward, mikee, ninfa_urania, Burnham, Jeppe, nchifan, marram has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

kooreman (321) 2004-06-17 15:21

I like the threatening sight of this storm overtaking the beautiful sunset. The contrast between the dark grey and the orange of the sunset is a beautiful and dramatic contrast.

jurgen (1994) 2004-06-17 15:29

Más o menos estabas en medio camino Asunción-C. del E. según un mapa vial que tengo por aquí que incluye Paraguay. Alguna vez pasé por esa ruta en bus en agosto 2001, pero ninguna tormenta me siguió. Tu foto muestra lo que me acuerdo de ese camino: todo llano, verde y con árboles. Me llamó la atención porque donde vivo es el desierto (Lima).
La combinación de rosados y grisis es muy buena, con algunas palmeras para identificar la 'tropicalidad' de la zona. Sé que en verano llega a más de 40°C.

RGatward (19737) 2004-06-17 15:46

The almost silhouette of the trees here is really efective, and makes the shot. Added to 'twist on title' theme, if you think 'on' to 'of' quailfies as a twist.

waskahegan (0) 2004-06-17 20:45

Quiero mucho ese cielo, maravilloso.
Tengo gusto de los rayos del sol que dan los colores blancos y rosados.
La silueta de los árboles es demostraciones nosotros qué no vemos: el viento.

mikee (1981) 2004-06-17 21:30

Well captured tropical storm mood. Beautiful contrast and colors of the dramatic sky at sunset. Got me singing "Riders on the storm" :P
Great composition.

ninfa_urania (799) 2004-06-18 5:07

Hola Kike :) Que bonita foto: me gusta mucho la iluminación de las nubes, acompañando cercanamente a la silueta de cada uno de los cocoteros. El fragmento de cielo y nube enmedio de las palmeras de la izquierda es un detalle que capta mi mirada, la detiene por un momento y la lleva al fondo a continuar apreciando esos hermosos colores. Me gusta el color: azul-morado-gris, de la gran nube oscura que parece querer devorar al cielo e incluso todo el paisaje. Considero que es una foto dinámica, has congelado un instante, pero uno no puede dejar de pensar e imaginar lo sucedido en siguientes. Cuidate mucho, Excelente fin de semana. *Ninfa Urania*

Lymavi (52) 2004-06-18 18:23

Me gusta la composición y el corte que le hiciste a la foto, aunque creo que le falta más luminosidad, la parte baja de la foto y los cocoteros se ven oscuros debido probablemente a la nube negra que tapaba los rayos del sol, pero lo importante es lo que se siente al mirar la foto, se siente el calor pesado con una humedad de locos y un viento sur (por la latitud) que alivia el sofocante calor.
Creo que también está un poco fuera de foco pero eso no afecta al sentimiento que transmite la foto.

Burnham (2426) 2004-06-22 4:19

Even if you had hard conditions you did well, you managed to still get some detail in the foreground, but most importantly you captured those fantastic clouds perfectly.

Jeppe (18623) 2004-06-29 19:04

This must also an old Doors number - :-)

Very dramatic sky you spotted and captured here Cesar - I like the mix between black and pink - Very fine job.

cdewet (0) 2004-07-03 13:01

Cesar, I like the movement and the mood you captured. If you want lightning, use bulb, put the camera on a tripod, open ot to f 22 and focus on the horizon, and try various exposure sfro, 1/15 to 4 or more sceonds, dep[enmdss whether day or night!

nchifan (910) 2004-07-24 15:06

I like this kind of pictures and yours are very expresive one! I like the composition too.
Great shut Cesar.
Ioan

Liora (1857) 2004-08-02 14:25

Another great moody shot Cesar. The colors are very good and there's a lot of drama in the air, but the thing that caught my eye here is the nice combination of cloud-per-tree on the left side... The little things...

coco (27612) 2005-04-30 13:18

Good composition and nice colours, but perhaps is a little dark.

marram (51) 2009-05-30 10:28

Intrigueing contrast and good timing. I lived in Coronel Oviedo for a year (after living in Mbuyapey for two), so it is delightful to be able to go back "home" via your photo: you captured the essence of Paraguay.