Photos: UVA’s Rotunda and a Midsummer Storm

University News

Photos: UVA’s Rotunda and a Midsummer Storm

August 9, 2022 • By Sanjay Suchak, sanjay@virginia.edu Sanjay Suchak, sanjay@virginia.edu

An aerial view of UVA Grounds with dark clouds. On the left is the rotunda, on the right is a wall of rain.

An approaching storm provided a powerful backdrop to the Academical Village on Monday, as captured by UVA Today photographers.

With a burly summer thunderstorm announcing its presence west of the University of Virginia on Thursday afternoon, UVA photographers Sanjay Suchak and Erin Edgerton saw an opportunity for striking images.

Suchak grabbed his gear – including a drone – and set up from a vantage point on the east side of the Academical Village, far from the large storm moving steadily northeast through Albemarle County. His hope was to capture the contrast between the sunny and calm area where the drone hovered and the approaching storm in the distance, with the Rotunda anchoring the frame, landing the drone well before the storm reached Grounds.

While the sun/storm line didn’t quite work out, Suchak captured several striking images of the storm as it passed over Lewis Mountain and headed toward the Lawn. Meanwhile on the ground, Edgerton used the Rotunda and Lawn as a setting to photograph a beautiful rainbow against a cloudy, blue sky.

An aerial view of UVA Grounds, featuring the Rotunda on the right side, with dark clouds covering the sky. A wall of rain looms in the distance.

Colors and textures collide in this aerial image of the Monday storm in Albemarle County. (Photo by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)

The Lawn seen through columns and trees. A rainbow is seen in the sky in the distance.

After the storm: A view of clearing skies with a streak of color, seen from behind the columns of the pavilions and Lawn rooms. (Photo by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)

Low angle photo of a rainbow in the sky after a storm. The rotunda stands on the left and a pavilion is situated on the lower right.

The Lawn Rainbow: A postcard-perfect image of a rainbow framing Pavilion II on the Academical Village on Monday. (Photo by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)