“Transient” is a new short film by storm chaser and timelapse photographer Dustin Farrell. Compiled from storm chasing adventures this past summer, most lightning footage was captured in uncompressed raw at 1000 frames per second with a Phantom Flex4K.
There are a lot of impressive things about this world that we can capture on camera and lightning strikes of this intensity are something truly beautiful to behold. Watching the different bolts of lightning arc their way across the sky, threading through the clouds as they light their own potentially destructive path is something that has amazed and electrified the imagination of many people throughout the scope of history. Dustin Farrell has done extremely well in his search for some of the most impressive shots that he can find and has delivered some truly stunning visuals for the viewer to enjoy.
I’m reminded of a trip to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota during a lightning storm. Off in the distance bolts of raw, unfettered electricity were seen to dance across the landscape in a seemingly endless procession of strikes that lit up the horizon. Nature had thrown a light show that evening for everyone to see and the thunder that rumbled across the sky was not unlike the growling of some great, magnificent beast voicing its dominance over the earth, giving testament to the wonder that is our world.
Sorry, natural wonders tend to make me get a bit spacey. The planet we live upon has a great many wonders and lightning strikes are one that seems to go unnoticed by many as scientific explanation has rendered them less mysterious. In the old days many cultures had their own legends and myths concerning lightning storms and what they meant. One very popular theory, and one that has made it’s way into popular culture in a very big way, is that of the Norse god Thor. Back in the days of the vikings it was said that a lightning storm was either Thor pounding upon his anvil or slaying giants as he rode among the clouds. The pounding of Thor’s hammer was said to either show his pleasure or his anger depending on the many omens that were divined.
The scientific world has in a sense taken some of the wonder out of the entire natural affair, but has still allowed a good deal of it to remain since the natural phenomenon is quite breathtaking to behold. The opportunity to witness a lightning storm of any kind of intensity is something that is not always recommended but is still enticing enough to try at least once in your life. To witness such a thing is enough to realize that despite our place in this world we are still very small next to the force of nature, which envelops this world and as a result is far beyond what we as humans can fully understand.
They’re not for everyone, but thunder and lightning storms are extremely impressive to watch and listen to. It’s a show that nature puts on that in its raw form is quite beautiful.
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