Table Mountain Thunderstorm

For years I have been wanting to shoot a clearing storm with wildflowers on Table Mountain in Oroville California, and this past week I finally got my chance.  Knowing that I wanted to find some new locations than in previous years I called my good friend and mentor John Hendrickson to pick his brain about locations and conditions.  Armed with John's advice as well as checking the weather nearly every hour during a recent 4 day storm, I took off when I saw the forecast predicting the storm to clear around sunset. 


Knowing that photography is all about being at the right place at the right time,  I packed a couple sandwiches, water, several layers, and my rain jacket.  So I could wait through what ever mother nature threw at me until I either froze or it got dark.

Though I drove through several squalls, by the time I arrived it had begun to clear just as expected.  While I was really hoping for storm light I quickly set about shooting the early flower bloom as I worked my way toward some trees in the distance.  While the strong wind made it nearly impossible to create close up flower images, the passing clouds did provide variable lighting conditions alternating between open shade and blue sky with big puffy white clouds. 

As I continued to shoot and explore the clouds slowly thickened until it was completely socked in and the wind was gusting with such force that it was endangering my tripod as well as my camera.  Before I packed up my gear I was able to get behind some rocks and take advantage of a clearing over some distant snow covered peaks, but due to the wind I was forced to dramatically limit my depth of field.  So I packed up my gear and began following a series of drainages toward the edge of the cliffs to hopefully find some new interesting compositions for next time. 

Eventually I found an amazing field of Lupine and a lone Oak tree that offered many different compositions depending on the angle of light, so I decided to drop my pack and wait.  After a few minutes of exploring possible compositions the storm picked up and sent me running for shelter under the tree.  I spent the next hour hiding from the storm under the enormous Oak.  As the storm began to pass the western sky started to open up while the rest of the sky remained thick with storm clouds.

From past experience I knew that these were prime rainbow conditions, so I headed west to find a foreground to place in front of my tree if the rainbows did come.  Just as I had expected soon a series of rainbows began forming behind my tree, and with a little movement on my part I was able to place the tree and rainbow on opposing sides of the composition, but as the rainbow grew stronger so did the remaining hail storm.   For those of you reading this who are not photographers this will seem strange, but as the hail storm blew furiously I took off my rain coat to protect the front of my lens dry.  Braving the blowing hail and being soaked in the process I shot continuously until the rainbows disappeared, pausing only long enough to dry the few water drops that did reach my lens.  

After the rainbows ended the sky began to get dark, but from looking on the western horizon I could tell there would be one more moment of light right as the sun dropped around the curve of the earth.  I rushed to find a simple composition before this last bit of storm light hit the wildflowers blowing in the wind. 

As the sun finally slipped behind the horizon for the night I tried to dry my soaked gear with my shirt as I packed for the hike back to the car.  Aside from a few moments where I had to stop and get my barrings, I made it back to the car just as I had to flip on my head lamp in the darkness.  All the while thinking about the amazing weather and light show I had just witnessed, and feeling repaid for all those times I have sat in a rain storm only to go home without even getting my camera out. 



Photographing Table Mountain
While Table Mountain can be shot any time of year, my favorite time is during the spring wildflower bloom which happens anywhere from late March through mid May.  The exact timing will depend on both the amount of winter/spring rains and the specific species you want to photograph.  The purple lupines come out earlier than the California Poppies.

I personally like to photograph Table Mountain in the late afternoon because the sun is at a lower angle and you have the Sierra foothills in the background, though early morning can also be nice.  If you are interested in close up or macro images of flowers it is best to shoot on a overcast or cloudy day with no wind, while for broad landscapes blue skies with some white puffy clouds are great.

I usually bring most of my photo equipment and make the choice of what to carry in the parking lot depending on the conditions.  If its cloudy with no wind I'll bring my macro gear for close up images, and if its sunny or partly cloudy I'll opt for the wider landscape lenses.

For additional information and directions call the Oroville Chamber of Commerce at (800) 655-4653