Storm clouds make fantastic subjects and with all the thunderstorm activity around Melbourne, it was too good to pass up. As I wandered up the little hill near my house I felt a tad uneasy then boom, a giant bolt of lightning appeared in the distance. I counted down until I heard the thunder, 9 seconds, that put the centre of the storm at least 9 kilometres away. I thought to myself, that should give me a bit of time to get a few snaps and then I'll head back.
I set up my tripod, adjusted my camera and started reeling off shots. I stood for a moment in awe at the colour of the clouds, when it happened. Now please bare in mind, neither I, nor the doctors are 100% as to exactly what happened. I turned to my left and a second later, to my right, was a giant flash followed by a big "pop". At this point I'm pretty sure I momentarily blacked out as I can't really recall much else. When everything started to come back into perspective, my heart was pounding and I felt like I was going to collapse, I knew what had happened, but I couldn't figure out what to do. I stumbled for a bit, checked my camera (including the last image I took), folded my tripod up and stumbled home.
Apparently I was as white as a ghost, I was obviously alive, but we weren't sure what state I was in. There is a local doctor around the corner, so the missus bundled me up in the car and we headed straight there. We're not sure if the lightning actually struck me or if it was just a really close call, either way, I'm very lucky to be alive. I can't recall feeling any pain, but I was in shock for a good few hours after and I still feel pretty crap. I guess its my own stupid fault for one, going out into a storm, and two, going alone. Anyway, as I said I'm still feeling a pretty crap, so I'll finish up and return to some serious pondering, thanks for reading.
