After seeing the great tornado and storm photos posted recently, I'd thought I'd share a few from my May chase in the Plains. 95% of tornadoes aren't photogenic (dark, low contrast, rain wrapped or at night) but the storms are something else!
First up is a ominous looking supercell over Yuma, Colorado. When we wandered around the left side of the house, we spotted a tornado about a mile away. But by the time we were in position, it vanished.
Second is at sunset in Coldwater, Kansas. The yellow was like nothing I'd ever seen before. We had about three minutes to shoot before getting nailed by hail and a downpour.
All three are really nice, the last one is my favorite. That is a great shot of a supercell, you can just see it spinning. The first one you might want to clone out the power lines on the right as the detract from your composition. Other than that I wouldn't change a thing. The colors in two are just blazing, i really like the dilapidated barn as the focal point too. Great job and thanks for sharing.
Nice variety, Chuck! I love the scalloping of storm updrafts in eastern Colorado. I'm still pissed I chose poorly on the Leoti day. Drove all the way to southeast Wyoming. Simply overthought that one. Oh well, I made up for it in spades on June 13th -Mike
That third one is a sweet looking classic super cell! Is spring here yet? In my opinion the third one is the best photographically speaking. The first one feels a little too heavy handed on the processing, the second isn't for me, but the third, that's a winner right there!
Great shots Chuck. I really like the first one. Did you take different exposures in order to get the cloud detail?
I've been trying to get good storm shots for some time now. Some of them are OK but not as spectacular as yours. Also did you shoot these in RAW or JPEG?
CheechzeppLn wrote:
All three are really nice, the last one is my favorite. That is a great shot of a supercell, you can just see it spinning. The first one you might want to clone out the power lines on the right as the detract from your composition. Other than that I wouldn't change a thing. The colors in two are just blazing, i really like the dilapidated barn as the focal point too. Great job and thanks for sharing.
Charlie
Charlie, I'll clone them out per your suggestion. I did that on the third photo and it did eliminate a distraction.
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Storm300 wrote:
Nice variety, Chuck! I love the scalloping of storm updrafts in eastern Colorado. I'm still pissed I chose poorly on the Leoti day. Drove all the way to southeast Wyoming. Simply overthought that one. Oh well, I made up for it in spades on June 13th -Mike
Mike, thanks and I'm glad you caught the 6/13 storm. I've seen pictures and it looked like a great one.
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Fred Amico wrote:
Wow, just wow! All terrific, last one is my favorite.
Brad Williams wrote:
That third one is a sweet looking classic super cell! Is spring here yet? In my opinion the third one is the best photographically speaking. The first one feels a little too heavy handed on the processing, the second isn't for me, but the third, that's a winner right there!
Thanks Brad! The third shot gets the most reactions when I show it to people.
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Brian Woolf wrote:
Stunning images, love that sky in #1 and a great composition with the house and tree. Love the stop sign in #3. It was a treat to see these.
Brian
Thanks Brian! I never knew how beautiful the plains could be when you add interesting weather. The stop sign in #3 gets a lot of comments.
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Rick Joyce wrote:
Amazing captures, indeed, from a world I've never seen.
Thanks Rick! It is an amazing world when the storms spin up over the plains.
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psharvic wrote:
Fine work, Chuck. Looks like a tense several moments for you.
Thanks Vic! The only really tense moment was when the photographer next to me put his front tripod leg in the middle of a four foot rattlesnake! Now that was a tense moment.
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Fotofly71 wrote:
Great shots Chuck. I really like the first one. Did you take different exposures in order to get the cloud detail?
I've been trying to get good storm shots for some time now. Some of them are OK but not as spectacular as yours. Also did you shoot these in RAW or JPEG?
Thanks! #3 was an exposure blend panorama. I just couldn't get it all in at 16mm and the sky was blowing on the left side. I always shoot in RAW in order to tame dynamic range. It made an incredible difference to travel to the great plains to shoot storms. When you get on the rural back roads, the vistas are simply stunning.
-Mike
Dave