goodbye blogger...

I am sorry to say that the time has come to part ways with my Blogger account.

I am finding that I am not updating as much as I used to and I find Tumblr to be much more productive and interactive.

So, from now on, you will find me blogging at through english eyes.

Thank you for all those that read this blog and I hope you will move across and continue to follow my life on Tumblr.

Best Wishes.....

self portrait...

Just a few pictures of me

it just keeps getting better...

The Oklahoman storm season really is something to behold. I know it seems, in fact, it is, the only thing I have really blogged about just of late but how can I not?

With every storm I experience, comes something new, and on this particular occasion there really was something new. I funnel cloud decided to form from the base of a super cell, at about the distance of an American Football field away from me, perhaps a little closer. This thing just came out of the clouds and started heading down.

I can not describe fully the feeling I had when I saw this. The emotions were mixed, excitement and fear, for in my mind I was about to get the shot I was longing for, a Tornado, I was just not expecting it to form a few hundred yards away from me. With my camera ready, I snapped a few shots of this threatening cloud dropping from the heavens.

Unfortunately, or should I say thank fully, I'm not sure, it was not to be. There was not enough rotation in the atmosphere and it dissipated after about a minute or so. There were other people watching, from their cars, all expectantly waiting the formation of a Tornado.

No matter, the storm was still a sight to behold and I managed to shoot some great photographs.

Below is a small selection of those images, click any of the pictures to be taken to my Flickr to see all of them.


above: the funnel

a close call...

This is how it all began. We had just had a lovely Sunday afternoon at the Oklahoma Zoo when we saw that the weather was starting to change and it looked like rain. We decided to finish up and head across to Lake Hefner to grab a bite to eat for dinner.

About 10 minutes into our journey, this is what we saw, looming over OKC.

Literally, within a few minutes this thing was on top of us and we had to try to take shelter somewhere. Unfortunately, we had already passed the underpass you see in one of these pictures so we had to take refuge, as best we could, in a gas station.

Now this is where it starts to get serious. Just as we pulled partially under the over hang in the gas station the wind picked up to something very serious and hail the size of baseballs started falling and smashing the hell out of our car. At first it was all we could do to just sit there but when the front windscreen started to crack and bits of glass started blasting into the car it all of sudden became a situation that we really did not want to be in.

The boy was in the back of the car, we covered him up with coats, Deanna and both jumped in the back and covered the boy using our bodies. The noise was horendous!! You could literally feel the hail bashing the shit out of the car and window just kept on cracking and threatening to blow in on us.

I know I spend time joking about with regards to chasing storms but when you get yourself caught up in situations like this, it’s not funny. This kind of freak and sudden weather is usually, in most instances, followed by a tornado and we were just in the car, looking at each other as if to say “what the fuck is coming”

Being a photographer, I was not going to let this opportunity of documenting such an event go to waste and I managed to snap a few shots from inside the car as the hail was literally smashing it up.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the following pictures.

OKC storms...

Today was a fantastic day for storms here in Oklahoma. We had a super cell thunder cloud move in from the west and with it came high winds, hail the size of grapefruit and some pretty destructive Twisters.

There was a very high chance, 8/10 in fact of a tornado hitting my location and a funnel cloud did start to form where I live but it did not touch the ground. The moment this happened all hell broke loose here at the house. The rain was so heavy you could not see through it, the wind was so strong that it was making the walls and the windows groan under the pressure, and there was a noise, an almost growling noise coming from outside, and this was all from something that never quite touched the ground. Imagine what it would have been like for me had it done so.

I found the whole experience very exciting and was incredibly disappointed to learn that only 30 minutes after it passed our house, a huge tornado touched the ground, about 50 miles away. I was all for jumping in the car to chase it but the boy wanted to come too and I could not very well take him with me and I did not want to go on this adventure, only to leave him here, so I chose to leave it this time.

There will be others, and those others, I will chase...

The photographs below are mainly from after the storm had passed over head and tracked east across the state.

the storms are plentyful...

Another collection of lightening photographs from tonight. it was awesome. we had heavy rain and hail, and the wind was very strong. at one point the wife got worried because she thought she heard the tell tale ‘train sound’ that comes with an approaching tornado.

Turns out it was just the wind funneling down our chimney.

I am now going to change my shorts.

Also, when storm watching/chasing it is essential that you take the correct equipment with you in case of an emergency situation.

my equipment list:-

Nikon D40 - for taking super fucking awesome photographs

Beer - for when I get thirsty

Hooded Sweater - for when the temperature drops

Back-Up Camera - to take pictures of yourself with your equipment

more storms...

Picture the scene if you will. Sitting at my computer about to reply to theneilshow when my lovely wife said to me “i could really go for some ice-cream right now” to which I responded with putting on my shoes and driving out for two hot chocolate fudge sundaes.

I was driving merrily along the road, headed north, when in the distance I noticed some very dark clouds on an otherwise very clear night. What really stuck me about the black wall that was looming ahead was the purple and pink lightening shooting through it in beautiful ballet of light.

This, of course, was another perfect opportunity for me to practice my lightening photography. I ran into the store, grabbed the ice-cream, raced home, gave the wife hers, stuffed mine into my face, grabbed my Nikon and tripod, dived back in the car and drove north, toward the storm.

It was the perfect setting, I managed to find a huge football field with a perfect view of the skies ahead. I set up the gear, sat on the grass, and while enjoying the light breeze on my back and warm night air, fired the camera and came away with some pretty good shots.

Here is to really loving the Oklahoma storm season.