I had the unfortunate luck of being stuck outside in the tornado that hit Atlanta. I had the great fortune of coming out of it totally unscathed even though I was standing about 50 feet from where it hit. I had gone down to Centennial Olympic Park to see the Red Bull Illume photography exhibit and shoot some pictures, but plans changed quickly. This picture is the aftermath. I forgot to update daylight savings time on my camera but it says 9:14 so that puts it about 30 minutes or so after the tornado hit. I was so confused when the tornado hit, I refused to believe it was actually happening and kept on trying to tell myself it was just really strong wind. If it hadn't been raining so hard, I would have probably taken out my camera during the tornado. It's completely unedited except for resizing, but I think it's most fitting that way. I realized many of my shots from that night are just thoughtless snapshots taken while I was in a state of shock, but I think this one depicts a little bit of the damage that happened in front of the CNN Center where it was thought that the tornado initially formed.
I love the sense of chaos and movement in the background. A tragic event. Photos like this serve as a historical record to these events. A great capture.
Thanks Chad, that means a lot coming from someone who has a history of fantastic entries. I was trying to catch that sense of chaos, but it was difficult when I was frazzled as well.
