September 11, 2014. Day 1 of 5 in Clearwater Beach, FL. My father had a business conference in the area and my mother and I tagged along for a vacation. We lived just 45 minutes from this spot for eight-and-a-half years, so it was good to visit and see old friends. It was also nice to be back at Pier 60 to hang out at the beach.

As I was talking to my parents in their room, I looked out the window and noticed the storm rolling across the bay. I ran to my room grabbed my camera and a beer and sat on the balcony for 20 minutes taking pictures. The Florida Gulf coast is obviously no stranger to storms, but this one was eerily beautiful. This image was taken within the first 5 minutes of getting on the balcony.

The image was edited to restore what I saw. The colors are not manipulated nor enhanced. The shadows have been lightened slightly to show more within the image as the clouds cast a large shadow that made the image dark. Nevertheless, this is almost exactly what I saw with my eye. This is one of my favorite pictures I've taken and has become a memory of a great week that followed. I had this image printed on metal and it hangs over one of my nightstands.