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.
Sometimes the best chases of the year come out of nowhere. I was sitting at my desk working when the radar revealed some convection popping up just 3 miles to my north. I expected it to dissipate, as many such storms do this time of year after sunset. However, the radar returns congealed and eventually revealed a nice thunderstorm about 5 miles to my northeast, so I headed out the door. The storm was small but spectacular, sending many clear-air bolts far from its updraft. Over the course of the next hour, I shot the following images in the Germantown and Bartelso area along Highway 161 under the full moon, of which tonight (July 22) is known as the 'thunder moon'.
Click on any of these to view in full screen.
This clear-air discharge is likely in the 6 to 7 mile range away from the storm, reaching for the moon!
A stack of two of the above frames:
Early on, I had the 50mm lens aimed tight at the top of the storm before it sent out the first clear-air CG:
The first CG near Germantown:
July 23 storms: Late that same night, I went downtown for another round of incoming storms. None tracked through the city, however this storm to the southwest had one final lightning flash to round out the Arch+moon+lightning combo shot:
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From Dan: Please Read
To my regular readers, I offer my apologies for this heavy-handed notice. Unfortunately it has become necessary, so please bear with me!
Please don't 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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