West Texas Haboob or "Great Red Norther"

[zippypeanuts]

This cold front boundary should have been called a "Great Red Norther" as it blew in and its 65 MPH winds and our extreme drought conditions made for a spectacular sight yesterday afternoon.

[John_A]

Wow - - - it is a little dusty in H Town today..

[Ricco]

Great shots! I'd like the story on the setup, though. I'm very partial to the 2nd photo.

[Jake]

Wow, that's awesome.

[Melany]

Man it hit Lubbock yesterday -- it was weird!
We were in a car lot when I saw it coming -- I didn't have my camera with me

I did take some shots with my cell. Just before it hit, I made hubby get back in the car; he was more interested in looking at the cars on the lot - MEN!
It got freakin' DARK, you couldn't see anything.

I hear nothing like that has been here since the 60's, and it was like the Dust Bowl.

[zippypeanuts]

Originally Posted by Ricco

Great shots! I'd like the story on the setup, though. I'm very partial to the 2nd photo.

I really just got extremely lucky to get these shots. I knew a front was on its way and going to blow through in the late afternoon. I did not expect it to come in with this much dust in the air. I had walked out of the house to the shop to get something for a project my daughter is working on and saw the wall of dirt coming. I grabbed the camera and was back out the door it was 3 minuets from the time I took my first shot until it was so dusty i could not see the house in the back ground from my yard where i was shooting.

The First shot was on Landscape mode 1/80@f8 ISO 200

After the first couple I changed to aperture priority at f14 and bumped ISO to 320 the second shot is 1/50 and the last 1/60. Just cropping and minor adjustments in Lightroom.

I had reset my camera earlier in the day and forgot to change back to raw and am a bit disappointed, but it is a lesson learned.

[wapiti]

Amazing images, Scott. I saw video of this yesterday on the CBS evening news. You nailed it.

[corralup]

I was hoping someone on this forum caught it...TY Neat stuff but scary I bet.

[Ricco]

Tell us about the steps up to this shot. I'm sure there are a few others that are curious with the things you had to do with the setup and things leading up to it.

[zippypeanuts]

I am just beginning to play with HDR and Tone Mapping and thought I would run one through Photomatrix and give it a dramatic over processed look.

[zippypeanuts]

Originally Posted by zippypeanuts

I really just got extremely lucky to get these shots. I knew a front was on its way and going to blow through in the late afternoon. I did not expect it to come in with this much dust in the air. I had walked out of the house to the shop to get something for a project my daughter is working on and saw the wall of dirt coming. I grabbed the camera and was back out the door it was 3 minuets from the time I took my first shot until it was so dusty i could not see the house in the back ground from my yard where i was shooting.

The First shot was on Landscape mode 1/80@f8 ISO 200

After the first couple I changed to aperture priority at f14 and bumped ISO to 320 the second shot is 1/50 and the last 1/60. Just cropping and minor adjustments in Lightroom.

I had reset my camera earlier in the day and forgot to change back to raw and am a bit disappointed, but it is a lesson learned.

Originally Posted by Ricco

Tell us about the steps up to this shot. I'm sure there are a few others that are curious with the things you had to do with the setup and things leading up to it.

I am still a bit new posting to the forums mostly just lurk what other info should I be including? I will be glad to share but would like a bit of guidance.

[Tom]

Man it hit Lubbock yesterday -- it was weird!

I heard it did dozens of quarters worth of damage. Even knocked some leaves off the tree in Lubbock.

[Ricco]

What i mean by information, like when and how you heard about it, how long did it take for you to set up, how long was the wait, and what you were thinking as you snapped the shot. This is one of those photos that need a bit of a background story on. :)

[Melany]

Originally Posted by corralup

Neat stuff but scary I bet.

I didn't think it was scary. The scary part was the idiots who didn't pull off the road - I guess they actually thought their headlights would help them see (it was DARK)

Originally Posted by Tom

I heard it did dozens of quarters worth of damage. Even knocked some leaves off the tree in Lubbock.

It did quite a bit of damage to the power lines and poles. Airport took a hit; I saw on the news a FedEx plane nose sitting on a fence, cocked back on it's tail.

That wind was wicked.

It was cool, I thought. Of course, I didn't sustain any damage though.

[zippypeanuts]

I was aware that a cold front was coming in during the early evening and that it was going to be windy as the front passed through the area but I was not expecting to see a wall of sand riding along the frontal boundary.

I walked out the door to do something outside and saw the wall of dirt, dropped what i was doing and grabbed the camera to start capturing the scene. It was just pure luck I walked out when i did and was able to get any pictures. It was upon me and visibility was down to almost zero 3 minutes after i started shooting.

Not much setup just grab and shoot.