An Assault of Color...

What is it about certain photographs that make us step back and say "Wow!" Sure, a great composition and a good subject can make for a interesting image, but it seems like emotion, tension, and repetition speak more to me. I love photographs that make me do a double take. I am generally satisfied with my photography, but I have very few that actually make me proud. I have recently been storm chasing (as usual) and chased for almost a whole week around Texas. I was sitting at home editing my photos from 5/28,5/29, and 5/30. I was almost out of gas in my car and was tired of driving. While messing around on Facebook my friend Nathan Ralston called me. "Hey, man! You out chasing?" I had no idea there were storms in our area. I wasn't expecting anything until after midnight. He told me to check out the radar where a supercell near Hollis, OK was moving south at about 25mph. I really didn't want to drive out to storms that were going to crap out on me, but since Nathan called I went ahead and got my gear together. Needless to say, we came across the supercell just as it started to bow out. We captured some incredible photographs of a rather normal structured storm. The light from this sky was amazing and we had great contrast on the storm. Constant flashes of lightning kept bursting from the green hail core with the occasional boom of thunder echoing through the prairie.This is my favorite photograph from the chase. "Assault of Color" is the only way I could describe the shot. There is so much polarity in this capture. The warm sunset light meld with the cool blue/green hues from the rain shaft and then a well placed CG strike interrupts the downdraft with a hot flash creating an anchor point for the viewers eye. The variation between cool and warm tones creates a since of tension in the image and the lighting in the middle really drives it home! My eyes don't sit still when I look at this photo. I can't look at just one thing! It was a mediocre chase, an unimpressive storm, and a short photo shoot. But, man was it worth the drive this is probably my favorite shot of this year's chase season.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks.

-Ben