Tut-tut, it looks like rain
July 11, 2012 8:50 AM Subscribe
Camille Seaman likes to take pictures of storms. Big, beautiful, terrifying storms.
In the past she did a number of series on icebergs, which was discussed here.
Her website is not very friendly to slow connections, and doesn't seem to allow linking to specific pictures. Lots of galleries there, but the easiest way to browse her work might be via a google search. (You can modify by adding "iceberg" or "storm".)
via
In the past she did a number of series on icebergs, which was discussed here.
Her website is not very friendly to slow connections, and doesn't seem to allow linking to specific pictures. Lots of galleries there, but the easiest way to browse her work might be via a google search. (You can modify by adding "iceberg" or "storm".)
via
I hate to be one of those guys who bitches about an interface, but it just makes me want to not look at the photos.
posted by davebush at 8:56 AM on July 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by davebush at 8:56 AM on July 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
Are you kidding with that website?
posted by Trochanter at 8:57 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by Trochanter at 8:57 AM on July 11, 2012
The "via" link is your best bet if you actually want to look at some cool photographs.
posted by theodolite at 8:58 AM on July 11, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 8:58 AM on July 11, 2012 [5 favorites]
Ok, so apparently I need to go to Kansas. Her "Big Cloud" set, along with Series II and The Monster, have me in literal, chest-wrenching awe.
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:07 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:07 AM on July 11, 2012
Yeah, that's one of the worst sites I've ever seen.
The VIA link is excellent, though.
posted by dobbs at 9:09 AM on July 11, 2012
The VIA link is excellent, though.
posted by dobbs at 9:09 AM on July 11, 2012
Inexpressibly lovely photographs. Definitely go with the "via" link; that interface is hideous.
posted by kinnakeet at 9:11 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by kinnakeet at 9:11 AM on July 11, 2012
We live on one gorgeous effing planet.
Thanks for sharing these. Wow.
posted by davidjmcgee at 9:12 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Thanks for sharing these. Wow.
posted by davidjmcgee at 9:12 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
They're very nice pictures for any storm lover, for sure; thank you for those.
It does seem that photographers' websites tend to have bad to godawful interfaces, though. I've wondered before if that's just some kind of subculture thing, where photographers point and laugh if their interfaces don't give non-photographer viewers hives.
posted by Drastic at 9:13 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
It does seem that photographers' websites tend to have bad to godawful interfaces, though. I've wondered before if that's just some kind of subculture thing, where photographers point and laugh if their interfaces don't give non-photographer viewers hives.
posted by Drastic at 9:13 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I am actually angry at the web designer who talked her into that. I hope it was an out-of-work relative forced upon her by a well-meaning family member.
posted by elizardbits at 9:16 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by elizardbits at 9:16 AM on July 11, 2012
There's nothing like Kansas (or Nebraska, or Iowa) for watching huge storms. The flat land and lack of trees make for long sightlines and uninterrupted wind. The best is when you can see the front coming for an hour ahead of time, and this huge black thing just rolls up silently, getting bigger and bigger and impossibly bigger, and you hear thunder rumbling somewhere inside its depths, and this whole thing just passes over you, seething with power.
And then the rain comes on like a firehose and the thunder's all around you and you run inside like you were four years old.
posted by echo target at 9:17 AM on July 11, 2012 [6 favorites]
And then the rain comes on like a firehose and the thunder's all around you and you run inside like you were four years old.
posted by echo target at 9:17 AM on July 11, 2012 [6 favorites]
And just think, this all caused by one blob of air being a bit cooler than another.
posted by echo target at 9:18 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by echo target at 9:18 AM on July 11, 2012
You can tell some of those pictures were taken in a fast moving vehicle (the way closer objects seem to be leaning). Judging from the background...I don't blame them. Terrifyingly beautiful.
posted by samsara at 9:21 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by samsara at 9:21 AM on July 11, 2012
Beautiful photos.
I'm guessing the site feels extremely responsive when viewed on the same machine that it's hosted on and that she's not aware of just how bad it is for other people.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:30 AM on July 11, 2012
I'm guessing the site feels extremely responsive when viewed on the same machine that it's hosted on and that she's not aware of just how bad it is for other people.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:30 AM on July 11, 2012
Argggg, hideous website.
Beautiful pictures, though. My husband likes to paint storms, but some of these would be way over the top to be on canvas. Ma Nature is a melodrama queen.
posted by BlueHorse at 9:43 AM on July 11, 2012
Beautiful pictures, though. My husband likes to paint storms, but some of these would be way over the top to be on canvas. Ma Nature is a melodrama queen.
posted by BlueHorse at 9:43 AM on July 11, 2012
Awesome, awesome pics. Imagine yourself as a neolithic plains hunter, or an early agrarian. How the hell do you NOT come up with a god to account for such terrible beauty? What else could it be?
posted by Trochanter at 9:46 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by Trochanter at 9:46 AM on July 11, 2012
I've wondered before if that's just some kind of subculture thing, where photographers point and laugh if their interfaces don't give non-photographer viewers hives.
Well, yes it is. Photography schools often coach their students in making sites that present barriers to hot linking, right click downloads, scraping, etc. It's like they begrudgingly agree to having a site, but don't want to make their content too accessible.
I imagine it would be pretty easy otherwise to make an automated pic-scraping bot that builds a gallery of art prints for sale stocked with unlicensed images.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:47 AM on July 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
Well, yes it is. Photography schools often coach their students in making sites that present barriers to hot linking, right click downloads, scraping, etc. It's like they begrudgingly agree to having a site, but don't want to make their content too accessible.
I imagine it would be pretty easy otherwise to make an automated pic-scraping bot that builds a gallery of art prints for sale stocked with unlicensed images.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:47 AM on July 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
I think that she chose too many photos for this series to really make an impact. I found myself consistently underwhelmed by the grainy, averagely-composed photos. I think she needs to pare it down.
I really liked many of her iceberg pics. She may need to find her sweet spot for storm photography.
posted by 200burritos at 10:37 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I really liked many of her iceberg pics. She may need to find her sweet spot for storm photography.
posted by 200burritos at 10:37 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
There's nothing like Kansas (or Nebraska, or Iowa) for watching huge storms. The flat land and lack of trees make for long sightlines and uninterrupted wind. The best is when you can see the front coming for an hour ahead of time, and this huge black thing just rolls up silently, getting bigger and bigger and impossibly bigger, and you hear thunder rumbling somewhere inside its depths, and this whole thing just passes over you, seething with power.
I'd argue that the Texas and Oklahoma pandhandles are better. Believe it or not, they are flatter in most places, except for these gorgeous ravines that cut into the landscape. In my experience, there's plenty of surprisingly hilly areas all over Kansas, not to mention central and western Nebraska's sand hills. Hell, in the Nebraska panhandle it's very easy to find all kinds of bad views.
posted by arahantrain at 10:56 AM on July 11, 2012
I'd argue that the Texas and Oklahoma pandhandles are better. Believe it or not, they are flatter in most places, except for these gorgeous ravines that cut into the landscape. In my experience, there's plenty of surprisingly hilly areas all over Kansas, not to mention central and western Nebraska's sand hills. Hell, in the Nebraska panhandle it's very easy to find all kinds of bad views.
posted by arahantrain at 10:56 AM on July 11, 2012
Oh, and of course western Kansas and eastern Colorado. Eastern Colorado is especially nice because the backroads are often very driveable, even in heavy rain. Kansas...not so much.
posted by arahantrain at 10:58 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by arahantrain at 10:58 AM on July 11, 2012
These are beautiful, but I find photos never really do clouds justice. You have to be under them, feeling the wind move around you and watching them march slowly or quickly overhead, to really appreciate them.
Maybe a video of them projected on an IMAX screen would come close, especially if you included wind sounds.
posted by emjaybee at 11:12 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Maybe a video of them projected on an IMAX screen would come close, especially if you included wind sounds.
posted by emjaybee at 11:12 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Those are gorgeous, and remind me of David Mayhew, who also does excellent storm photography. Between the photographers, researchers and storm spotters, storm chases must get crowded.
posted by Dr. Zira at 11:44 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr. Zira at 11:44 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I see Flash loading, I close window.
posted by jsavimbi at 11:57 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by jsavimbi at 11:57 AM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Justin Terveen has been taking some similarly striking cloud photos in north Texas and Oklahoma.
posted by misterioso at 12:32 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by misterioso at 12:32 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Those photos leave me with the same primal fear that I'd probably have upon seeing one of Theodor Kittelsen's trolls strolling through the countryside off in the distance. The kind of fear where you are witnessing something so enormous and so dangerous that you are just awed by its raw, ancient power.
posted by CancerMan at 1:16 PM on July 11, 2012
posted by CancerMan at 1:16 PM on July 11, 2012
Well, yes it is. Photography schools often coach their students in making sites that present barriers to hot linking, right click downloads, scraping, etc. It's like they begrudgingly agree to having a site, but don't want to make their content too accessible.
Sites that are inaccessible to bots and linking don't have to be inaccessible to humans as well.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:01 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Sites that are inaccessible to bots and linking don't have to be inaccessible to humans as well.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:01 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
200burritos: My thoughts exactly.
"Argh! Telephone line! Get out of the car and walk 50 feet!"
"Argh!! Truck receding on an otherwise empty road! Go left 50 feet and wait ten seconds!"
"ARGH!!! BUILDING ENCROACHING ON OTHERWISE PRISTINE SHOT OF CLOUD FLOOR ZAK SMASH!"
posted by ZakDaddy at 4:05 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
"Argh! Telephone line! Get out of the car and walk 50 feet!"
"Argh!! Truck receding on an otherwise empty road! Go left 50 feet and wait ten seconds!"
"ARGH!!! BUILDING ENCROACHING ON OTHERWISE PRISTINE SHOT OF CLOUD FLOOR ZAK SMASH!"
posted by ZakDaddy at 4:05 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
It might be my piece of shit machine but even the VIA link photos are not rendering properly. Number 14 with the mammatus clouds is phenomenal. Severe storms are one of my favorite things in this world. Sad that I don't live anywhere near them.
posted by Existential Dread at 8:24 PM on July 11, 2012
posted by Existential Dread at 8:24 PM on July 11, 2012
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