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.
I took the long way for part of the drive home from the office today, getting stopped by the descending crossing gates on Hedrick Road near Scott Depot. I decided at the last second to grab the camera and mess around with a few shots instead of just sitting in the car. Stuff was blurring handheld (since it was getting dark), so I cranked the ISO to 800 just to get a sharp image. I tried a couple with the (slowly approaching) train in focus and the gate blurred, but I liked this better.
So yeah, I drove home from the office. If you know me or read this blog for very long, you know that I don't kid around when I talk about possibly making changes in life. I'm not afraid to try new things or go back to doing 'old' things if it's what I feel is best, and I usually take the plunge sooner than later, not looking back or second-guessing the decision afterward. And so today, I loaded my home office setup into the car (computer, hard drives, files, etc) and took it to my waiting desk at the CIS headquarters in Teays Valley. I plan to make the daily commute for at least the next month or so. Expensive (about $160/month extra for fuel, which the company is helping cover), but I think that the advantages of me being 'in-house' with the rest of the crew during our new product roll-out will make that investment well worth it.
I never thought I'd say it, but to be honest, being back there felt great. And it also feels equally good to be home in the evening and not have piles of work sitting here in this room. The end of the day is my time now - all of my work activities will be confined to the office 25 miles away. I lost sight of this benefit of having a more structured routine.
You've probably also seen that what works for me seems to change like the wind, so who knows how long this arrangement will last. I may be back home again in 6 months (or 2) - we'll see. It's nice to work for someone that lets me make these decisions for myself - I don't take that blessing for granted.
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.
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