Five fine folks picked out their favorite images by me here on SB —- these are the ones that received multiple votes.
The big winner was the nighttime Linton, ND, cumulonimbus/supercell that was lit up by lightning. One voter chose the ultra wide angle shot of it, while the remaining four preferred the tighter shot.
I have a slight preference for the wider shot, as it is somewhat more unique, I think, with the dark and starry skies and the nice soft grassy field surrounding it. Am I way off base here, to go against the only one with FOUR votes?!
There were several images which garnered three votes. Let’s start with the Campo tornado favorites. The only Campo shot that received three votes was the rainbow/funnel shot (2453):
I was looking at a couple of other shots taken right about that time, and I played around with this one (2448). I think that the farm buildings add an important element to the image. And, the boosted contrast brings out the meso and circulating precip swath nicely. The rainbow is more prominent (double rainbow!) in 2453…tough choice between these two, for me at least!
Campo image 2395 received two votes, and another non-voter calls this one “epic”, so it deserves special attention.
The other Campo image with two votes was 2411.
I can’t argue with these, though there are a few other Campo images that I have a soft spot for and prefer a tad more.
The Adrian supercell/mothership structure images received strong support. With three votes was 7521:
And three other Adrian images got one vote each (7527, 31 and 40). That means that I get to vote to break the tie — 7540 wins by a whisker.
Next on the list with three votes is a colorful lightning image at Angelus, KS:
Two of the Carhenge shots amassed a total of three votes. My favorite between the two is this one:
Another big winner with three votes was the CB with CG near Ralls, Texas, back in 2008:
My mammatus shots from Agate in 2006 received three votes. We’ll go with this one:
The Eagle Butte “horse corral” cloud formation is also a three-vote image. The version with the fence got two votes:
These are the top dozen. About ten others received two votes, and I’ll post those really soon.
The second tier —-these nine were good enough to earn a couple of points!
Below is the post from December 1, 2012 with all of the preferred selections.
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My plan to put off and avoid the tedious task of selecting my “best” storm images by having other people do it for me is working brilliantly! Several of my best friends (forever) have taken the time to make known their favorites. If you would still like to make known which of my storm images are you favorites, please don’t hesitate to contribute. See the post for November 14 for more details. Soon I will produce a page featuring the most popular images. But for now —- here are the images chosen by Tom, Tank, Bob, Kirstie and Brian and some commentary.
(Most of these are from 2006 to 2012 and are digital images. A handful of pre-2006 slide images also made some lists.)
We’ll start with those chosen by Tom T. I don’t think that Tom would mind if I pointed out that he is an exceptional photographer with his own web site, and he really knows a great image when he sees one. You can even find out his last name if you click on his site—–but this post is all about me now, so visit his site tomorrow.
Tom selected 23 images. He really liked this one of the old vehicle — too bad that some goofball is interfering:
The Campo shots of May 31, 2010 ranked the highest for Tom, especially these:
Tom says: “No prize for guessing Campo would come out on top, that day was just nuts, some of the best tornado images ever came from that day I think. Well that and the Jasper, Minnesota 1927 tornado. Image 26 is on its side but I think it is my favourite from that day. Image 31 I love how the guy in the image is just leaning against his car like he is just chilling out having an ice cream or something. 44 is incredible too, the hail, the tornado, the rainbow, the gravel road, the farm…..It tells a huge story, the story of the storms of the Great Plains, the fury and the beauty all in one image.”
The next four highest on om’s list are the images above. His comments:
June 11th 2011 Image 7—This is a personal favourite of mine, maybe because I was there on that chase, it was also one of the highlights of my 2011 chase trip. I have a thing for seeing explosive updrafts from a distance, and this one is just nuts, really shows off the power and size of a developing supercell. The small slice of foreground really helps give perspective too.
May 21st 2012 Image 14—I love this shot of the Adrian cell, kind of hate it too as Brian and I were just a few miles away on the other side of that big rain shaft. Just a beautiful storm and a great shot of it.
June 23rd 2006 Image 10—One of the best sunset/mammatus shots I have seen. I like the line of trees and farm in this one.
May 20th 2011 Image 3—Unbelievable stormy sunset! I love shots with a road leading into the image. This shot reminds me of how a crappy bust day can suddenly turn into a photographic success as the setting sun sets fire to the sky you were feeling so frustrated about. This should probably be higher in the list but I can’t be bothered to move it. The mix of colours make it very captivating.
The next four are above. Tom’s comments:
June 17th 2010 Image 7—Another chase I was there for and another example of a mediocre storm turning into a jaw dropping sight as the sun sets. I love the way the grain is pointing to the sky.
May 21st 2012 Image 9—Another great Adrian shot.
June 17th 2009 Image 2—Here you have my two favourite things in one shot, a supercell from a distance and a distant storm being lit up by lightning at night. I would have this as a poster on my wall.
June 14 2008 Image 22—A great lightning shot, its like the storm is sticking its tongue out. There are millions of lightning shots out there so I like ones like this that stand out.
Tom’s comments for the next four best:
May 5th 2006 Image 26—Beautiful image that tells a great story, I love that the guy is in the image looking at the storm he has spent his whole day waiting for and chasing. It is the end of a chase day farewell picture.
June 9th 2010 Image 2—Another day I was there for. A great moody storm picture.
May 27th 2009 Image 7—Pow! That’s all.
June 10th 2012 Image 5—I am a big fan of wide lightning shots. I like how it tells more of the story of the storm and gives some idea of what it feels like to be leaning against your car on a gravel of road, in the middle of nowhere, watching a wonderful lightning display.
And Tom’s notes on the on the four images above:
June 3rd 2011 Image 13—Wonderful stormy scene.
June 24th 2010 Image 24—Another one of those scenes I love. A ‘wish I was theres’ shot for me.
June 22nd 2012 Image 5—Luvlee Jublee sunset shot.
May 8th 2011 Image 4—Great sunset shot again, so many shades and textures.
And, the final two images, Tom says:
May 19th 2011 Image 10—A great shot for showing off the beauty of the Plains.
June 29th 2009 Image 18—I still have not been to car henge, but this shot really makes me want to go.
Thanks to Tom T. for the time and effort put in to choosing these — he didn’t choose just from the pre-made galleries, but from the multitude of individual SB posts from the past six years!
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Okay, next in line is Tempest guest and guide Bob S. His favorites were selected from the SB Galleries MISC section that I made recently. His Top 18 are:
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Fabulous selections, if I do say so myself! Thanks Bob!
My good friend and longtime Tempest guest and guide, Tank, “spent a lot of time” in consideration in the selection process. Tank chose 24 from the SB MISC gallery — here they are in alphabetical order:
And now for the images carefully picked out by Brian Morganti, famous storm photographer from PA. His web site is stormeffects.com.
Brian selected ten of the images in the Stormbruiser MISC gallery, and the first four (in alphabetical order) are those above. For these, he says:
1. Adrian, TX Supercell – #2 image: These are all killers but to me that one stands out a bit above the others.
2. Alliance Carhenge Storm: Well composed, focused, and extremely interesting foreground material. Yes, we have seen Carhenge far too many times and are sick of seeing it (although not often with a storm in the background!). But most folks have never seen it, and when you put it with that awesome stormy/rainbow scene it is a killer shot…I could easily visualize this on the front cover of a calendar or coffee table book!
3. Booker, OK Stormy Rainbow: I usually don’t go for vertical shots, but the lighting was just perfect on this one!
4. Carlyle, MT Supercell #2 Image: The structure man, it’s the structure…and of course, it’s in the northern plains!
Brian’s comments on the four above:
5. Eagle Butte, SD Corral: I recall seeing this one before…the cloud shapes make this one somewhat unique, the colors are fantastic, the image is well composed, the lighting is great, and of course there are some cows…not to mention it was near Eagle Butte!
6. Isabel SD Severe Storm: Typical stormy scene with old building we live to photograph…I just plain like it, A LOT!
7. Kintyre, ND Cb updraft #1: Beautiful scene, gorgeous updraft, nicely defined lightning, great late day colors and a road that beckons the viewer farther into the scene…this is one of my favorites for sure, and of course it is in ND! Another one that deserves to be on a book cover!
8. Linton, ND Supercell at night Image #1: I usually don’t go for the night scenes as much, but this one is so well defined and illuminated it has to be included…great structure that is well resolved and must I say it…yes I do—it is in ND!
and the final two:
9. Parkston, SD Supercell Image #2: We’ve seen stuff like this a million times, but yet it keeps us coming back and I wish I was there right now photographing such a scene!
10. Ralls, TX Cg bolt: If there is one thing I love more than structure, it is structure with a “HEAD BOLT”…darn you!!!
And another big Stormbruiser fan is Kirstie J. She has perused ALL of the images on the web site, and her favorites (with more to come?) are:
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