OT - TwisterTours, results are in!

I advertised this trip a few weeks back, John Klotz signed on as my latest victim, and was a real trooper and fast learner as a first-time storm chaser. He was baptised early, when we got stuck in the mud the first night, and i had him get out to push
We had a highly successful trip, at least a couple tornadoes, great storms, even a dust storm. Kansas and Nebraska were the hot spots all week. Other highlites included: 1) nearly being struck by lightning 2) An entertaining breakfast conversation with an old-timer KS wheet farmer, and 3) Some really good steaks!.
This twister was near Hoxie, KS

Thanks to a tornado moving at 50 mph with winds of probably 200 mph, most photos turn out like this--gives me a lot of respect for the handful of talented storm photogs.

This was a landspout (weak tornado) near Russell, KS. I cant wait to get out again for more! More at M&N, ESS to follow next few days.

Dramatic stuff, Stan. I'd suggest cropping the bottom of image 1 to get rid of the OOF part. It's a "killer" image! Congrats on living to tell about it.

Thanks for that repsonse Dave, i was thinking about cropping that but since the wind was blowing at 40+ mph, i thought a little motion wouldnt hurt (it really all looked blurred). I have a totally crisp version that i will be posting on ESS soon.

Nice shots Stan. I grew up about 30 miles from Russell. Spoke to my parents yesterday and they said they had over 30 tornado's within 20 miles of them during the memorial day weekend. Brings back memories of my mom racing home when the tornado sirens were blazing to find me up on the roof of the house with the binoculars looking at the tornado.

Brian

Yep, Brian, Russell is right in the middle of it all. We only heard the sirens once this trip (near Greenburg, of all places). I suspect that the actual number this weekend at that location may have been closer to 2 or 3. The numbers get inflated by multiple reports or cycling of one tornado (weakening/reforming) Also, non-trained public reports pretty much every cloud they see as a tornado during an outbreak like this. The third shot here (the landspout) was reported as a tornado several times (we listened to the reports on the radio) but many chasers wouldnt even consider it a true "tornado" since it forms via a different process from the one at top.

Great shots, Stan... Hope John has recovered enough from slogging through the mud to give it a thumbs-up!

Great shots! I'm with Dave on the crop of the first one.

Congrats on the successful outing Stan. And if you're nearly getting struck by lighting, you must be doing the right thing as a storm chaser.

The results look great!
I've always wanted to try this type of photography.

Very cool. Just to see those tornadoes must be something. Now I sort of wish I'd been able to make it and am sort of glad I didn't almost get struck by lightning! How did you shoot these? Did you have to handhold out your car window at a high ISO?

Stan, Glad to see you are awake! How did your little drive up Mt Herman go? I have not even uploaded my cards yet. I suspect they will look like ...well tornados!
It was an awesome trip! Anyone that has not chased storms should give it a try... but not alone! ptui... just found another hunk o mud between my teeth

Grant, i shot most of them outside but didnt have time to mess with a tripod (i suppose with more experience it would be easier), so i used higher ISOs.

Herman was awesome, John--i will post a couple shots from there in a few days, the light was great with clearing fog, thanks for the suggestion! I also got some lighting shots tonight i may eventually post.

Stan, very cool shots ! Sure hope to be able to come sometime.
Sandy r

What a cool trip. Something I'd definitely like to do sometime when my schedule isn't so hectic. I can only imagine the rush you get trying to photograph such violent weather!