Using the radar to take good weather photos

Weather RadarLast weekend I finally got one of the great weather shots that I had always wanted to get…

That of a gust front.

So I thought I would share with you one of the tricks of how I got this…  Shots of weather are are all about timing… and your best friend is the weather radar.

I could stay at home until just 20 min before the storm front passed over the place I wanted to go to.

This radar capture from the day…  shows the progression of the line of storms across Port Phillip Bay.  After watching this for a few loops I could even work out an approximate speed for the line of storms moving through.

Once I had the speed… I knew how long to wait before heading down to the beach. So I grabbed the D90 and had the Tokina 11-16mm on the camera before I got out of the car.  This way I didn’t have to change the lens on the beach in the wind and salt.

I was at the beach for less than 30 min and got a couple of my keeper shots within 5 min of getting out of the car.

So every once and awhile do take the time to look at the weather radars (I use prefer the Weatherzone one – because it has a lightning tracker as well)

And here is the shot….  enjoy.

Gust Front

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