Growing up on Long Island (Bethpage), NY – I felt lost in my late teens. Worried about my future direction in life, my father gave me an old Argus rangefinder to fool around with. Little did he realize what an important gesture that would turn out to be for me.

After doing some research and seeing the images of Minor White and Ansel Adams I quickly became addicted to photography.

 

To make a long story short, I left home at 21, quitting my job, leaving my friends and family to see the American Southwest for myself. In California I eventually met my wife, and together we had 3 children, and created our own design studio - and the tasks of running a business and raising a family took a priority to Photography. During that time I stopped taking pictures.

Years later, in early 2005, inspired by my wife, children and friends - I again picked up my cameras. Today I see myself on a passionate mission to make up for years of lost time - creating images that help evoke how I see our wonderful planet.

 

I feel that I owe much to the great photographers of the past, especially Ansel Adams, for their dedication to the craft and for inspiring me in my late teens. Though I have never met them, their inspiration helped me determine the course my life would take.

I currently live with my wife Wendy, our 2 sons Jason and Joshua, daughter Asia, dog Jimi and rotten cat Nicky in Studio City California.

The images produced in this series represent the beginning of a new project, inspired by my love and respect for the Earth and Mother Nature.

 

I've always loved storms. The rumble of distant thunder; the flashes of lightning, the energy and electricity in the skies. Watching a storm being born from a small, unstable weather system - developing into a towering, powerful, beautiful and majestic super cell... it's a sight to behold.

 

Standing in a field as an inflow of cold air feeds into the storm; driving/punching through the core of the system, electricity, rain, hail, wind - the smell of the crops as they are being pounded in the fields... all very hard to describe with words.

 

My hope is that the images presented help communicate the powerful beauty and what I felt while experiencing these amazing forces of nature.

 

Starting in Rapid City, South Dakota, over 10 days I would drive over 5700 miles and 10 states photographing severe weather systems in the mid-west. These states included: Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado.

 

Seeing the small towns, with their tight knit communities, holding the history and culture of our farmlands, reminded me of how vast and diverse our country is. In spite of the sadness brought on by issues of poverty and years of drought, the relentless dedication, love and respect the people have for their land put all things in perspective for me during this time. In the forefront of all this, were the storm systems themselves. 

 

On July 13, 2009 we tracked a severe weather system for 9 hours, from its initial formation outside of Sturgis, South Dakota through Badlands National Park (South Dakota) and into Valentine, Nebraska.

 

By the time we came to rest in a field outside of the town of Valentine, the cloud structure of this supercell had reached an amazing 65,000 feet. Wind gusts were breaching 60mph. The lightning show, the rumble of hail and 60mph inflow winds made the experience of standing in front of this storm similar to standing in front of a 65,000 foot high vacuum cleaner. However, its structural form was more like witnessing an atomic explosion. Watching this system with its immense power, until its eventual death, was unlike anything I've ever experienced. My hope is that the image of this storm structure does it justice.

 

And a thanks:

 

Much thanks (and respect) goes to Roger Hill, who's experience, commitment to never giving up, sense of humor, love of Taco Bell (Subway/DQ) and incredibly long hours placed me in the best possible position for photographing these amazing storm structures. 

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