Some of the most beautiful photographs that I’ve taken (in my opinion) come just before storms arrive and just after they leave. That’s when the sky lights up.

Photography has opened my eyes to the clouds and the things they tell us about the weather. I rush here and run there for the most open skies and robust cloud formations. I’m getting good at it. I know when a storm is coming and where it’s coming from.

The photo above is almost spine-chilling, it is telling me the future.

We are getting a big storm tomorrow, say the weather people, maybe up to 12 inches. I went up to the top of a nearby hill to see if I could see the storm arriving, and I was lucky. I returned to the farm and got another perspective on the same thing.

I love photography, but one of the things I love most is that photography has opened my eyes to so much of the world I was missing. Like Thomas Paine, I’m seeing the world anew. I was blind but now can see.

I look up at the sky, check the wind, look for the dark or full clouds, and head the other way to get ahead of it. Sometimes I can; sometimes, I can’t. I’m a storm catcher now, and I love the chase.

Come along as this new storm approaches.

Our backyard is a perfect place to spot storms; I can see the hills across the valley and a big open sky above me. When the storm comes close, the hills disappear, and the clouds run for their lives, pushed by the wind.

The first photo above was taken on this hill; this one was taken a few minutes later.  You can see the clouds on the right moving quickly over the sun. A few minutes later, the sun had disappeared behind the clouds.

We go out to feed the animals early when a storm is coming; they will be inside the Pole Barn for a while. If it really gets heavy, we’ll feed them in there. I love this iconic photograph of Maria rushing out into the pasture to get the animals fed and ready. They may not see the sun for a while.

Maybe I can get a Stormcatcher hat, like those people on the Weather Channel.