Shooting storms can be a little dangerous, you have to be careful and have a basic understanding of thunderstorms. I try to be very careful, especially when shooting lightning. Lightning kills 100X as many people in a year as tornadoes.

When I moved to the Midwest in the late 1970's I fell in love with the severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. A few years ago it hit me... I enjoy photography and I love thunderstorms, why not shoot storms. I have been hooked since I started shooting storms. I don't chase storms like the chasers on the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers. I basically stay in my general area and I have certain vantage points that I go to depending on which way the storms are heading. I keep tabs on the radar and lightning detector sites when the storms are getting close.

This is what happens when it strikes too close... From my first year of shooting. I just got in my car (lightning was getting close) and set the camera on the dashboard. The lighning bolt hit about 50 feet in front of the car.