The Making of "Oklahoma Supercell"

How the winning photo of the "Dramatic Sky" contest was made

By mconwxdr in Photo Contests on Oct 4, 2022

"Oklahoma Supercell"

First off, thank you to everyone who voted for my image among this great group of entries. As a meteorologist who lives in the stormy plains of the central United States, this theme was near and dear to my heart.

I've been a 'storm chaser' for over 25 years now, both in my personal and work life (I work for the U.S. National Severe Storms Laboratory). Over that time I've attempted to capture the drama that often unfolds in the springtime skies in this part of the world, first with Pentax film cameras in the late 1990s, to a K200D, a K-5, and currently a K-70. I've captured many of these images while on duty and I've always adhered to our rule that these are forbidden for commercialization and personal copyright. This image was an exception, produced after work and without any field work obligations. Making this one special is that my 80-year-old Dad came with me (willingly). He got the storm chasing experience as you'll see below.