Raining in Oman is a rare event, especially in large amounts. On average, the amount of yearly rain in Muscat is 100 millimetres, mostly during wintertime. A few days ago, a depression hit the northern part of the country, including the capital city, with heavy rainfall and strong winds affecting the region. Muscat is located in a narrow area between the mountains and the sea, so the rain very quickly travels between them; in large amounts, it fills the wadis and carries the danger of floods. In such circumstances, people are encouraged to stay home, to avoid driving under such conditions.
I am fortunate to live in an apartment that faces the sea, so during the day of the storm, I had the opportunity to take several photos from my balcony. In between the rainy periods, there would be brief spells where the sky cleared up a little bit; this resulted in interesting compositions with dark and dramatic clouds sweeping over the coast. From the early morning until sunset, I kept an eye on the developing weather; whenever a dramatic cloud formation appeared, I would pick up my camera to photograph it. It was interesting to see how the clouds varied during the day, from large dark masses coming in from the ocean to smaller banks passing by the horizon.
It turned out that staying at home due to bad weather resulted in a collection of nice photos. I have used my 3 lenses for this set, that is, 16mm, 35mm, and 56mm. Each one provided a different approach, depending on composing wide for the sky and clouds, or framing a bit more tight.
