A comedy of errors

Local photographer Christo Smith, founder of Christo Smith photography, took few tumbles in search of the perfect storm shot.

Smith took to social media platform Facebook yesterday to tell his story.

In search of a good place to take photos of an almighty Johannesburg thunderstorm, Smith and a friend ventured further than usual. As they walked towards a grassy section, Smith stepped into a grass covered ditch, sending him hurtling to the ground.

“I managed to turn my body to land on my side, keeping my camera and tripod in the air. My friend that was with me followed me to the ground, as he also stood in the invisible ditch.”

The culprit of the friends’ tumble – a deceptive ditch, covered by grass.

After falling into the ditch, the very next step taken by Smith resulted in him falling into an uncovered manhole.

“My whole leg went in, and my cellphone fell out of my pocket into the hole…My phone landed on a narrow step, and was leaning onto the wall of the manhole, just over 1 meter down. I stretched down and managed to get it. I got lucky,” Smith explains.

With a grazed elbow and hand, a slightly sprained hip and a new limp to his usual gait, Smith and his friend managed to get the motherload of thunderstorm shots. The photograph shows a series of lightning bolts dramatically cascading over Sandton, Northcliff and Northriding in Johannesburg. Well worth the tumble, he notes.

As much as Smith and his friend’s experience could have ended very differently, both told the story in a lighthearted, relieved and proud way.

And, with the world’s unpredictable weather patterns of late, we look forward to more photographs of fascinating weather phenomena.

If you would like to explore more of Christo Smith Photography, click here.

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