# TORNADO!!!



## wxnut (May 26, 2008)

Saw 10 tornados in Kansas on the 22nd and 23rd... here is one of them...







Doug Raflik
wxnut@charter.net


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## tirediron (May 26, 2008)

Okay, that would scare the crap out of me.  Given the conditions you were (I assume) shooting under, that's a heck of a good capture!


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## seabug (May 26, 2008)

Great composition considering the danger!  A true photographer!


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## Jrmdb3 (May 26, 2008)

Very symmetrical. I like it man! Thumbs up to you!


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## caspertodd (May 26, 2008)

The only thing I could see making this better is that I would like to see a cow blowing across the road...  This is a really cool capture!  I look forward to seeing more.  Just be careful


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## wxnut (May 26, 2008)

more from the 2 days can be seen here...

http://www.wxnut.net/blogtoc.htm

As of today it is the top two entries on the page.

Doug Raflik


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## K_Pugh (May 26, 2008)

nice capture.. like the composition considering the situation you were in etc.. that's one road i take it you never chose to go,...



or did you? lol


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## astrostu (May 26, 2008)

I've always wanted to photograph a tornado .. but I'm way too chicken.


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## pm63 (May 26, 2008)

Uh-oh.

Great capture, very, erm striking?


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## Phazan (May 26, 2008)

AWESOME! Seeing a tornado, and riding out a hurricane are on my list of things to do before I die. Must be rush!


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## GrfxGuru (May 26, 2008)

Nature makes for the finest portraits 

Good job under difficult conditions for sure!

Regards,
Peter Witham
http://www.evolutiondata.com


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## GeorgiaOwl (May 26, 2008)

holy crap. well, you inspired me to photograph one too. yep. that's right. i just walked right in here and took a shot of my monitor...but it scared me too much and i deleted it.  


I can only imagine what it sounded like to be there! aargh!


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## BrandonS (May 26, 2008)

I've wanted to do this since I've moved to Oklahoma.  I never had the chance when I was in Pennsylvania as we didn't have them.  How do you go about this?  I would imagine a small TV and watch the news to find out where the circulation is and go ahead of it?


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## Miaow (May 26, 2008)

Great capture - I don't think I would have stayed on that road very long lol


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## Chiller (May 26, 2008)

:thumbup::thumbup:  Wow...excellent.  Would love to photograph a tornado one day, but we dont get them around these parts. :er:


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## JustAnEngineer (May 26, 2008)

CNN was running live video footage of one of these storms from a news helicopter with a gyro-mounted camera.  Very scary!


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## John L (May 26, 2008)

Incredible shot....I would love to go with the storm chasers and see if I could get something like this.


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## Parkerman (May 26, 2008)

Very Nice shot... how far away was it?

 Kansas is good for that though, you can see a tornado from a distance and still not be in major danger.. I mean.. You are in more danger than if you were in a spot you couldnt see it. Here in Alabama you can just be going along and one pops out behind a hill... lol.


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## PhotoDonkey (May 26, 2008)

Eh.  You can do better.  Go back and shoot it again.

Just kidding.

Awesome shot.  Did you have to clean out your shorts afterwards?


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## Big Bully (May 26, 2008)

Holy freakin cow! That is an awesome capture! I have been in a hurricane (when I was a kid) and was driving in Missouri while a Tornado touched down quite a ways away. My husband was walking around in Missouri once and down the road there was an F-5 tornado ripping crap up. Way freakin cool though. Now that I am into photography, I would love to photograph one. 
Any advice on how to go about it though?


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## Big Bully (May 26, 2008)

wxnut said:


> more from the 2 days can be seen here...
> 
> http://www.wxnut.net/blogtoc.htm
> 
> ...


 

How big were those tornados? And how wide?


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## passerby (May 27, 2008)

Oh man what a shot, lucky you. Next time you should wait until it came close and you jump in into the cortex to be spun. The famous Australian birds called Galah love to do that. When they were spat out later on they're all lying down drunk. When they recovered they flew and chased the tornado back to have another spin. Try it and let us know what is like in there, and of course show us the inner circle side of the photos too.

Happy spinning


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## Mohain (May 27, 2008)

wow, great stuff. Lol at capsertodd's comment. Cool capture


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## Big Bully (May 27, 2008)

passerby said:


> Oh man what a shot, lucky you. Next time you should wait until it came close and you jump in into the cortex to be spun. The famous Australian birds called Galah love to do that. When they were spat out later on they're all lying down drunk. When they recovered they flew and chased the tornado back to have another spin. Try it and let us know what is like in there, and of course show us the inner circle side of the photos too.
> 
> Happy spinning


 
Sounds like someone needs to put a video camera on the birds, that way we could see what happens.


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## PhilGarber (May 27, 2008)

woa.. are you like one of those CNN payed stormchaser's?


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## MarcusM (May 27, 2008)

Nice shot! There are some absolutely stunning tornado shots on your site. I especially like the classic-looking tornadoes, and that one must be a couple miles high!


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## wxnut (May 28, 2008)

BrandonS said:


> I've wanted to do this since I've moved to Oklahoma.  I never had the chance when I was in Pennsylvania as we didn't have them.  How do you go about this?  I would imagine a small TV and watch the news to find out where the circulation is and go ahead of it?



The best way to go about it is asking a vetren chaser if you can ride along. Offer to pay for gas. You then get to learn whats involved. You can find a ton of chasers here...

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum

Or you can make a mini vacation out of it and go on a chase tour group. This one is the best out there...

http://www.tempesttours.com/

You get drivin around for 7 to 10 days chasing storms. 

Doug Raflik


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## wxnut (May 28, 2008)

Parkerman said:


> Very Nice shot... how far away was it?
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> 2 miles away.


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## wxnut (May 28, 2008)

PhilGarber said:


> woa.. are you like one of those CNN payed stormchaser's?



Nope. Just an expensive hobby.


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## maytay20 (May 28, 2008)

Awesome shots!!  Man that would have scared the crap out of me.  I like the on were you can read the sign that says travel at your own risk and the tornado is almost on the road.


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## Early (May 28, 2008)

wxnut said:


> http://www.wxnut.net/blogtoc.htm
> 
> 
> 
> Doug Raflik


Stole some looks at a few other photos.  You have some real keepers in there.


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## chantal7 (May 28, 2008)

I've always wanted to take a photo of a tornado.... I guess I'm lucky in a way we don't get them around here a whole lot. That's Canada, Saskatchewan for ya. Good shot, keep them coming 

Whoa, this picture here is a good one!!! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Hope you don't mind me posting it here, I just used the url you had from your site


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## dadCameraGuy (May 28, 2008)

love the sign in that photo (more clear on your other site too) - says something about "travel at your own risk" - very appropriate!


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## Corry (May 28, 2008)

Good stuff, as always, Doug!  I'm betting this is your favorite time of year, eh?


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## PhilGarber (May 28, 2008)

wxnut said:


> Nope. Just an expensive hobby.


Then Apply.


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## The Don (May 29, 2008)

HOLY ****!!! they actually have tornado's that big?? **** i thought that was only in movies 0.0


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## BoblyBill (Jun 9, 2008)

I'm not sure how I missed this one Doug... I'm so jealous... I planned my vacation around the 26-31 and there wasn't anything good when I was able to go... (29th was a good day if I remember correctly but I had chores to do for my sisters wedding so I couldn't go out). Great shot man.


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## Dave127 (Jun 9, 2008)

Great shot. I'm sure you made the movie people jelous with your composition.


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## dklod (Jun 10, 2008)

Thats too cool. You are in the A1 position, on an intersection.  If it comes at you, you can go left or right and track its movements, maybe even follow it. For me to get out there and do that, thats the situation that I would need to be in so I have an escape route. Nice work.


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## Rachelsne (Jun 10, 2008)

Very nice-glad to hear you do it safley with professionals too


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## droyz2000 (Jun 10, 2008)

Great shot. I have always wanted to get an image like this one since I have seen the movie Twister.


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## tedE (Jun 10, 2008)

i would never have stuck around that long to capture that. i'd have been running with my tail between my legs about an hour before that picture was taken!!! looks great!


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## wxnut (Jun 10, 2008)

Rachelsne said:


> Very nice-glad to hear you do it safley with professionals too



Have you seen my page? I think I qualify as one of the professionals. Been doing it for 10 years with 24 tornados under my belt. 

http://www.dougraflikphotography.com/storms.htm

Doug Raflik


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## m1a1fan (Jun 10, 2008)

Nice capture!  I spent most of the weekend going back and forth between Wisconsin and Northern IL.  Busy weather all weekend.


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