June 3, 2016 – Storms and Baseball

June 3, 2016, Great Bend, KS. It was a beautiful evening, though storms were brewing to the north. I was shooting the Great Bend Boom vs Topeka Train Robbers game. Both teams are part of the Pecos League, a pro baseball league. I was using a long lens to capture the action on the field. My daughter was using a second camera with a shorter but wider lens. The storm clouds moved in just before sunset; we received a few drops of rain but heavier rain was apparent to the north. The clouds were mammatus clouds. The setting sun provided some light from the west. Anti-crepuscular rays provided amazing light from the east. When the clouds were overhead, I swapped lenses with my daughter and started photographing the stunning clouds. Each of the images below was created from 3 or 4 horizontal images; the clouds were directly overhead and this was the only way to capture the whole scene with the gear I had in hand. The whole show only lasted about 15 minutes.

The beginning of the light show.

Over the grandstand.

End of the show. The light faded quickly at this point.

It was an incredible sight watching the clouds glow with light from both directions. Unfortunately, the Boom lost.

Thanks,

Rob Graham