Help Wanted

I’m stumped. Coming up with a title for my photographs is usually easy. But this one has me scratching my head.

Every year, I submit photographs for judging at my local camera club in Naperville, Illinois. While the title doesn’t affect the score, it does seem to prime the viewer about the subject matter and/or purpose of the image.

If you have a title suggestion for today’s Friday Photo, I’d love to hear it!

The Shot

I participated in an on-call storm chasing tour in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas on April 2-4 last year. On the first day, we were chasing tornado-warned supercells near Lake City, Arkansas.

Roger Hill, the tour leader, faced a difficult decision. Do we chase west of the Mississippi River in Arkansas or east of the river in Tennessee? Because there are so few river crossings, it was one or the other with no turning back.

We chose east because at that time, there was nothing promising west of the river. Despite chasing a half dozen tornado-warned storms, nothing produced in Tennessee until after midnight.

One of our Tennessee stops was at a small rural church. Trees obscured the horizon, but it was one of the better areas to observe. We watched this supercell move to the northeast and hoped it would continue to mature.

The relative peace and quiet of the parking lot was abruptly shattered by an impressive lightning bolt. That was our signal to return to the safety of the van and move to a new, safer position.

Back in the van, I scrolled through my images. This moment, with the huge, branched lightning bolt illuminating the graves in the foreground, was an instant favorite.

Thanks for looking,

Chuck Derus Zenfolio | Chuck Derus