Spring Storms in 2009

jamesl

Hi All,

This year I've had a few opportunities to chase the spring storms that occur here in the plains. For me, this means Texas and Oklahoma. Here's a few images/videos from this year so far:


Cluster of storms near Wichita Falls, Texas. This storm later went on to create a tornado and destroy the town of Loan Grove, Oklahoma. :cry

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This video shows the same cluster of storms in a sped up time lapse. It's really amazing just how much vertical movement there is in storms like these.

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This is a video of the storm as it spun away to the north. Such beauty for such destruction.


Double Rainbow north of El Reno, TX. A strong storm that would later develop several tornadoes can be seen in the distance.


Small but bueatiful LP storms trying to develop west of Oklahoma City, OK.


A nice sunset near El Reno, OK.


We were kind of pinned between storms here, but I was able to grab a few lightning pictures before we needed to move. This was taken West of Oklahoma City, OK.

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This video shows the lightning left behind after a strong series of thunderstorms went through the Dallas area.


These last few pictures are from a surprise storm that woke me up in the middle of the night. I was able to drive to a local park and get some pictures before the storm dissapated.





The rest of the 2009 gallery can be found here:
http://www.langfordphotography.com/Storm%20Chasing/715346

Thanks for looking!

James

glennp

Really like that second to last one.

glenn

Eia

extraordinary! I really like that last one.

Tee Why

Wow, some impressive cloud formations.

cj99si

Dude These are awesome! the last couple dont even look real! Great work definitely worth getting up for.

Ridgetop

Wow
I love those last two. What a great thing to have to wake up and ruin a good night's sleep for. I've always loved the t-storms we get out here in the Sierras but they aren't anything like you get to experience. Good job on those shots.

I also like the rainbow and windmill shots. Very nice

Awais Yaqub

Wow wonderful job !

Picture North Carolina

Whew! Love those night shots with lightning in the clouds!

jamesl

Thank you all for your comments. Glad you liked them! My favorites are also the last two.

James

dseidman

Nice series. The shot with the windmill is just awesome!

ront

Outstanding photos!!

Ron

ian408

The last two are pretty cool. I mean you've got a fountain with a color complimentary to the lightning strike in the background. How cool is that?

coscorrosa

Those are just awesome!

Corehead

There's a storm hammering Midland TX as I write. The previous storm last weekend dropped tennis-ball sized hail, knocking all the sprayed-on insulation off our shop ceiling.

Sure do wish we had a NICE park like you have there!

Steve-o

jamesl

Corehead wrote:

There's a storm hammering Midland TX as I write. The previous storm last weekend dropped tennis-ball sized hail, knocking all the sprayed-on insulation off our shop ceiling.

Sure do wish we had a NICE park like you have there!

Steve-o

Hi Steve,

Definately looked like you guys got hammered last night. Hope you made it through ok. All of West Tx was under the gun with that craziness last night. Hopefully tonight will be quiet, but who knows.

James

jamesl

Thanks all for your comments! We have a chance again tonight of storms, so maybe I'll get a few pictures.

James

scottV

wow, the last 2 are awesome. what hardware/software did you use to make the time lapse?

jamesl

scottV wrote:

wow, the last 2 are awesome. what hardware/software did you use to make the time lapse?

Thanks Scott! For my video, I shoot with a Canon HV-20. I use Windows Movie Maker to make to process the video. There is an effect in WMM that allows you to double the playing speed up to 5 times I think. This tends to work pretty well.

Thanks,

James

schmoo

James, nice to see you posting your fantastic storm photos again! I guess it's that time of year again

I love the addition of video to illustrate the thread.

jamesl

schmoo wrote:

James, nice to see you posting your fantastic storm photos again! I guess it's that time of year again

I love the addition of video to illustrate the thread.

Howdy Schmoo! Yeah, I wish I could be more involved in the forums. :cry Work for me has / continues to be pretty crazy. The rest of my free time is spent with my family. Chasing storms is my one photogenic opportunity at this point. I'm hoping to be able to take a few trips with my family this summer, so hopefully we'll have some pics from them!

James

jamesl

End of the Season
Well,

the summer HOT has settled into Texas, and that usually means the end of the storms for a while. :cry However, we had an awesome and very active season this year. Here's a few pics from the last few months:

The FULL 2009 Gallery is here: http://www.langfordphotography.com/Storm%20Chasing/715346































Thanks for looking!

James

ian408

All I can say is wow. On that last shot, is it possible to shoot an exposure for the building then one for the lightning? You could use layer masks to blend them.

Regardless, this is really amazing stuff to see. Thanks for sharing

schmoo

James, you really aim to please! These are fantastic and I too am sad that the storms are over. I would have thought they stuck around all season since it's hot? Is it just too hot for the right kind of clouds?

thapamd

Too cool! Enjoyed every one of them!

jamesl

ian408 wrote:

All I can say is wow. On that last shot, is it possible to shoot an exposure for the building then one for the lightning? You could use layer masks to blend them.

Regardless, this is really amazing stuff to see. Thanks for sharing

Thanks! That is a good idea on the last shot. I could probably use the original RAW and tone it down some to kill off the blown out areas.

James

jamesl

schmoo wrote:

James, you really aim to please! These are fantastic and I too am sad that the storms are over. I would have thought they stuck around all season since it's hot? Is it just too hot for the right kind of clouds?

Thanks Schmoo! Around this time of year, the air tends to stabilize in these parts, and that pretty much kills of storms. We really don't even get many clouds when the high pressure ridges set in. :cry That's ok though. I'm headed up to Montana at the end of this week with my family for 10 days, and I hope to get some good shots from there.

James

jamesl

thapamd wrote:

Too cool! Enjoyed every one of them!

Thanks Mahesh! Have a good day.

James

www.paolosmeraldi.com

Nice pictures, horrible weather!

dlplumer

glennp wrote:

Really like that second to last one.

glenn

+1