I have not had much opportunity to do photography this year.  Except for our trip to Tswalu in May, it has been pretty much confined to barracks.  So I decided that I would do a solo trip into the heart of the Karoo for some night photography.  The core of the Milky Way would no longer be visible during the hours of darkness much after the end of October.  During October it would appear in the earlier part of the night and in addition it would lie across the western sky making panorama images very possible.  I also wanted to do some Time Lapse videos and star trails.  Karoo Ridge Conservancy was chosen as the place to do the shoot.  It is situated some 40km north east of Middelberg in the Suurberg mountains.  I carefully planned the shoot at new moon and with the help of PhotoPills® I had worked out a good position to capture the Milky Way in panorama format with an interesting rock formation foreground. All intentions were good. The weather forecast was reasonable with clear skies predicted for the Tuesday and Wednesday nights with the Monday night partly cloudy.

I set off quite early on the Monday morning looking forward to the drive of some 5oo km through the Karoo. As it turned out, it was a very pleasant trip. However, on approaching Graaff Reinet I cloud see the cumulus clouds building up over the mountains to the north – maybe just a short sharp thunderstorm. About 30km from the conservancy there had been some heavy rain with the veld and the gravel road awash with water. But the storm had passed and I thought that may be it for the evening. In fact at the farm it was dry when I arrived there. Got all the gear unpacked and set up a tripod in the front of the cabin where I was staying. Captured a few very traditional Karoo images.

Late afternoon, Karoo Ridge Conservancy, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.

Canon EOS 1DX Mark III with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens.

Aperture priority exposure mode. ISO 200. 1/400 sec at f/8.

I thought the clouds in the above image , although it looked like something brewing, would move to the east of us and we might just get a very good sunset.

Canon EOS 1DX Mark III with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens.

Aperture priority exposure mode, EC = -1/3. ISO 200. 1/400 sec at f/11.

The above image was taken about 15 mins later and things still looked like we would miss the brunt of any heavy rain.

But then things started to change and a huge angry looking cloud started to form. The next image was taken 48 minutes later than the above image.

Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM lens@35mm.

ISO 800. 2,5 sec at f/7.1. 6 stop neutral density filter. exposure set manually. Filter added to give motion to the windmill blades.

The next image was taken only 5 minutes later. By this time I knew there was some serious trouble coming. It is the sort of cloud that is often accompanied by hail.

Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM lens@35mm.

ISO 800. 6.0 sec at f/9. 10 stop neutral density filter. exposure set manually. Filter added to give motion to the windmill blades.

And then all hell broke loose. It was as is someone had just emptied buckets of water out of the clouds. Could hardly say it was rain drops. More like sheets of water coming down. This was then followed with large hail stones. The noise was incredible – amplified by the tin roof of the cabin. I was finding it diificult to stay under some cover as the air was just filled with driving rain.

Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM lens@35mm.

ISO 800. 6.0 sec at f/9. 

The frightening part of the storm was not just its ferocity but how dark it got. The sun had not yet set but it felt like night fast approaching.

Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM lens @ 31mm.

ISO 400. 10 sec at f/10. 

When the farmer appeared in the morning to see if I had survived the storm he said the rain gauge just near the cabin had registered 40mm of rain. This had come down in about 15 mins. Strangely, he said they only had 20mm down at the farmhouse and that the adjoining farm had had no rain at all. It was very localised and he had taken an image with his mobile of this cloud moving directly towards the area where my cabin was. Fortunately my vehicle did not suffer any hail damage – very surprising.

Well, I thought that had to be it and just maybe the weather would clear for some star photography. Unfortunately it remained fairly cloudy for the rest of my stay and there was no further opportunity for star photography. No matter how good your planning, you can’t control the elements.