Though many head indoors during inclement weather, that's often prime time for a landscape photographer.

Clear blue skies make for lovely days to be enjoyed outdoors - but they're not good for photographers! Which brings me to storms. Sometimes they create wonderfully wild, turbulent, and angry - but beautiful - skies.

With a monsoonal flow over Grand Teton National Park during the past week, I've been doing some storm chasing. The first few attempts did not bear fruit: either the forecast didn't pan out or I was one step behind the action.

The other day, though, things came together.

Conditions changed rapidly throughout the afternoon; it was a challenge trying to determine where to be to try to get the best vantage point. After four hours traversing the park from one end to the other, the storm clouds seemed to be hanging together over the south end, so I ended up at the Moulton Barns on Mormon Row late in the afternoon. This is not one of my favorite locations: the barns are seldom without tourists during the day, and they're over-photographed. That said, one can shoot in a variety of directions from there, and I knew that most folks would clear out of the park as the dinner hour approached.

After an hour or so, the sky darkened as some interesting storm clouds formed. I started photographing one of the barns, but the better conditions were to the south and east as a thunderstorm was rolling through. As I stood and watched it, the wind picked up - and quickly became violent. I used a cottonwood tree which was being thrashed about as my foreground element, and captured the spectacular sky to the southeast.

Another bonus: as the weather deteriorated, all but a handful of tourists exited. There would be no issues in terms of having to wait for people to get out of the shot.

Once that storm moved through, another nearer to me began dumping rain over the Teton Range, nearly obscuring it from view. Now it was possible to begin shooting in the direction of the mountains. This time, the barn anchored the foreground (below). This panoramic of four vertical images combined was difficult to make due to the extremely windy conditions. Happily, it came together.

Not only is the tumult in the sky wonderful, but it's not the type of image of this often-photographed structure that you normally see.

After a while the high winds died down but the sky remained interesting - continuing to change quickly - so I waited to see what else might happen. (Don't be in a hurry to pack up your gear!) Eventually it looked as though it might clear. The sun peeked out through a little opening which allowed for a glimpse of the blue skies high above all the unsettled weather. This, however, was to be short-lived as the slice of blue marched on with yet more storm clouds following in its wake. Soon thereafter, more rain moved in as the sky lost all definition - signaling an end to the session.

It is possible to create unique images in places that have been photographed over and over again. Something interesting overhead is one way to achieve that. "Bad weather" isn't always bad!