Stormy Sunrise at Glastonbury Tor

“Storm Fire on the Levels”

There are a few weeks of the summer when, from one of my favourite vantage points, the sun rises directly behind the Tor. Three thirty alarm calls don’t thrill me, but and if the conditions are right, you can get some truly spectacular images. As a consequence I tend to be tired for much of the solstice period!

This was one of those mornings when you wake up and look out of the window and you wonder if you should go back to bed. All the way up until the sun peaked from behind the clouds it looked like it might be a foggy grey day. When the clouds started catching fire, I was jumping with excitement. I worked for ten minutes moving around and working the scene for to get the perfect alignment. Of the three hundred images I took that morning, this is my favourite. Moody skies and deep shadows frame pools of light collecting on the cloud inversion in the valley. The flock of birds adds balance and tops off the composition.