|
Home | Blog Index | Blog Archives | Christianity & Faith Essays | Storm Chasing Essays
Storms return to WV - lightning over the State Capitol
|
I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. This page is a detailed account of the biggest threat to my photography and video operation that I had to battle daily to just barely survive, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem facing all of my colleagues as well. |
Click to enlarge
A few good ones got away tonight, some by mere seconds. Every second counts in storm chasing - I missed a vivid cloud-to-ground strike behind the Capitol dome by about 10 seconds as I set up the camera. Ouch. If my tripod hadn't kept the rear tailgate from latching at my previous location (which opened back up as I drove away, requiring me to stop), I'd have caught the shot. You win some and lose some in this game.
I got one decent shot, though it's not likely to be added to this month's 'keeper' file due to the Capitol being a slight bit out of focus. Some strange tropical-like storms tonight, dropping torrents of rain with mostly imbedded, obscured lightning. Mileage tonight was above average, with a trip to Ravenswood which was an outright bust. Again, the best action was right here at home, continuing the 2008 trend.
I'm not sure if the show is over for tonight - with an approaching frontal boundary, plenty of moisture and a little upper support, something could go anytime. I don't think I'm up to an all-night watch tonight, so I'll probably do the old 'crack the window so thunder will wake me up' trick.
|
