Did you know that there is an entire 600 page book describing all of the known deaths that have occurred at the Grand Canyon?!?!  Seriously…you can buy it for fifty bucks in the bookstore and browse through it from time to time whenever you’re having a particularly morbid day!

When Steve and I visited the Canyon this past summer, our curiosity got the better of us and we found ourselves flipping through the various chapters of this book and by the end, we sat in the corner of this bookstore, scratching our heads and wondering how so many people appeared to entirely lose their sanity so close to the Canyon rim {“no sir, it’s probably not safe to try to retrieve your car keys from the 6,000 foot hole that you’re currently standing on the edge of…but if you must, I’ll be sure to have 911 of speed dial…” – aaaaand…queue the morgue!} but, believe it or not, it happens more times than you might care to believe!

Sure enough, as we were walking back to our car, the most incredible thing happened…a lightning storm in the Canyon, less than a kilometer from us!  It was spectacular!  And while most of us just sat back and watched nature at its best, there were a few ambitious people {read: photographers!} who felt that the complete lack of barriers around the rim were intended specifically for that moment!  And so we watched…and held our breath…and prayed that we weren’t about to watch the editors of the book make space for a new entry!

Now, having said all of this…I also need to make a confession…

While most of me {the part of me that supports living!} cringed in horror as I watched these people dangle their feet over the edge of the rim…there was another – albeit small – part of me that kind of “got it”!  A part of me that understood I would likely never see anything like this again in my lifetime and the desire to capture it – even just a moment of it – can be stronger than reason.  And I think that all of us photographers have done it at one time or another – we’ve seen a specific location just slightly out of reach or a specific moment at just the wrong time – and wondered to what lengths we would actually go for the chance to shoot it.

As for me…guilty as charged!

Now, fast forward to earlier this week and my scheduled engagement session with the amazing Anastasia and Nic…

We had our sights set on a century old, abandoned barn in an isolated forest outside of Ottawa.  Our only access point being 200 feet of ankle deep mud that couldn’t be driven through {because that would be too easy!}.  But we wanted it.  Badly.  So we ventured on.  With a vengeance.  What we didn’t account for was the three traffic accidents that took nearly two hours to bypass…the sporadic downpours of rain that occurred at the most inopportune moments {ie. part way through our mud slinging adventure!}…the dead raccoons…or the pack of coyotes straight out of a Stephen King novel {that’s when we hit the gas peddle like nobody’s business!!}!

So, yeah…that was our night.  Wet.  Cold.  Dirty.  Slightly terrifying!  And I haven’t had that much fun shooting a session in a really long time!!

Anastasia and Nic, we made it to the Canyon…and you…were my lightning storm…