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.
During the San Andreas Fault chase last month, didn't do any sightseeing other than of the fault itself. I passed within easy distances of landmarks like the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, downtown Los Angeles, Joshua Tree National Park and New Mexico's Zuni-Bandera volcanic field, but in the end, I just did not have time to make the diversions to go see them. However, there was some interesting scenery encountered along the routes I took, so I thought I would devote a blog post to them.
A BNSF double-stack train passes in front of a mesa on the southern end of the Tohajiilee reservation west of Albuquerque, New Mexico:
Albuquerque was one place I wish I had more time to explore on this trip. This is a panorama of the city and the Sandia mountains from the west of town:
In California's Central Valley, the thickness of smog and haze was really hard to believe. It was just like fog, but gray instead of white with a ubiquitous smell hinting of both smoke and vehicle exhaust. At night, it was thick enough to mask distant lights, and sometimes was dense enough that I could see it in my own headlights. Apparently this is worse in the cool season when a long-term inversion settles into the valley, and much of the particulates come from agricultural burning. Experiencing this, I can't fault most Californians for being strong environmentalists - I would be too if I had to breathe this day in and day out! I've never personally seen pollution on this level before.
The thickness of the smog was most apparent when viewing it from above, like from here along Hudson Ranch Road south of Maricopa:
Contrast this with normal fog, viewed from the same road as those first two smog images (Hudson Ranch Road) looking in the opposite direction (to the west):
Web Site Design and Internet Marketing by CIS Internet
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.
Before continuing, check each box to agree to and acknowledge these two statements:
Click this button to finalize this acknowledgement:
