Running race, storm, lightning, and a touch of panic
Back in August 2015, I was to take photos on a running race held at the Pogány airport. Everything was going smoothly until the storm arrived…
The competitors were running a half marathon when lightning began to strike near them. As far as I know, there were injuries, and the race was interrupted. So, I started heading home to Komló. On the way, I noticed continuous lightning towards the Mecsek. It’s not often you get a chance to capture good lightning shots. So, I first stopped at the Üszög roundabout. I managed to take a few photos there.
The Alexandra building was bothering me, so I didn’t linger there for long. It would have been nice to go up to the roof to get a clear view of the city. Since I had a day shift the next day, I decided to continue my journey home. As I was driving through the Mecsek, just before Árpádtető, I saw that the lightning was still coming in tremendous quantities.
The story also includes that I had recently gotten my new camera body, the D750, and I thought, when else should I be exhausted at work if not after a good lightning photography session. So, I turned onto Melegmányi Road and headed for the Tubes lookout. It was a very good decision. I walked up from the parking lot as quickly as I could, and from the lookout, I could see lightning striking towards Orfű and Komló with the same intensity. So, I started taking photos. Here are the results.
After I felt sufficiently exhausted and believed I had made the most of the storm’s opportunities, I started heading down. I was already close to the parking lot when I saw something really eerie in the dark. It was this:
Many pairs of eyes illuminated by my weak flashlight in total darkness. I was scared stiff when I saw them. My first thought was to look for the nearest climbable tree in case they attacked, so I’d have at least some chance. Since they didn’t move, I started thinking about what they could be. I judged them to be about the size of an adult German Shepherd dog. But then I thought, what could be wandering around the Mecsek in such numbers? Not a fox, not a wild boar. Deer are larger and would have likely bolted already. They remained motionless, so I thought if I played some heavy metal from my phone, it might scare them off. It didn’t work; they didn’t budge and were standing right on the path leading to the parking lot. I called for help, reaching out to Phinkee :D. We deliberated for at least 20 minutes. Once I had calmed down a bit, I pulled out the flash from my bag and took a picture with it.
:D:D Sheep, I think they were racka sheep. I spent at least half an hour up in the Mecsek, scared because of them, just about 70 meters from the car. It was an exciting and eventful night. I haven’t managed to capture lightning this well since then. The solution to the sheep problem was simply to shout, and they immediately scattered so I could finally go home and get some sleep before work the next day. 😀