In September of 2025, my work is generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I'm being forced to shut down my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. 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. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field.
Thankful to not be in northern Nebraska right now under stormless skies, I made a short trip into downtown to get a few shots of landmarks I haven't yet had a chance to cover. Clouds on the western horizon ended the good direct sunlight early, so I only had a short window for frontlit + blue sky lighting. Weather permitting, I might go back for another afternoon of shooting tomorrow.
This is the Compton Hill water tower (also called a 'standpipe') on Grand Avenue near I-44, part of the old St. Louis Waterworks infrastructure. They were designed to be part of a water pressure regulation system, using the vertical pipe to allow overflow. They were surrounded with the ornate architecture simply for aesthetics, as opposed to a just a huge plain pipe towering over the neighborhoods. This is one of only seven such structures left in the USA, two others are also in St. Louis (I plan to get to those also sometime soon).
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From Dan: Please Read
Please do not copy/upload this site's content to social media or other web sites. Those copies have been a critical problem for me, seriously harming this site and my photography/storm chasing operation by diverting traffic, viewers, engagement and income. "Credit" and "exposure" does not benefit this site or my operation, rather they threaten my ability to cover my operating expenses. Please read my full explanation for this notice here.
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To my regular readers, I offer my apologies for this heavy-handed notice, but unfortunately it has become necessary.
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