A few years ago, my husband and I discovered a common passion - photography. Or let's put it this way, I was the one who inspired him about this hobby and after we bought a camera we started actively taking pictures, but nothing specific, when we had a good idea or what we saw looked great we took pictures, and over time the computer was full of pictures.
We were more and more interested and over time started to learn how to take pictures correctly, what to photograph, and how to edit pictures, i.e. everything that goes along with it. And then one summer day my husband took the first picture of a storm cell, and when I saw that photo I was so excited that I wanted more pictures like this. We searched online how to properly photograph storms without endangering our own lives, but this is not an easy sport. When I first published a picture of the storm, we were contacted by a gentleman who has been chasing storms for several years and knows exactly how to find a storm and where to stand. One day he called us that he had spotted a storm approaching Graz, and if we wanted to come along he could show us how the entire storm chase works. And that was the point of no return. When we caught our first lightning, I felt such joy that cannot be described. Thus began storm chasing.
When everyone was complaining that a storm was coming, we both impatiently and happily waited to go hunting. People looked at us strangely why are we looking forward to it so much, if in the summer everyone wants warm weather. Yes, but what good is this hot weather if it's not appropriate to move outside because it's too hot and you'd rather lie at home under the air conditioner. We took quite a few great pictures and during this time we also impressed two friends who sometimes went on the chase with us.
This moment when you’re looking at the radar and see that a storm cell is going to be near you anytime soon now, and after you see it, you stop the car, prepare your equipment, and action. Of course, it was quite tiring many times, especially when you tried to escape from her and get in front of her. These are road fights. Since I was mostly the driver so that my husband could follow the radar, I was scared quite a few times because of the fast driving and the approaching rain. But it's all worth it in the end. And to add - I'm driving, but always very careful no matter what.
Unfortunately, this year was not meant for us. Most of the time when the storms were approaching, we were either working or busy, and the cell had already fallen apart. This year I especially remember that we saw a storm on the radar and excitedly set off, after an hour of waiting the cell fell apart, and a new one appeared on the radar, right near our home. Since we were about an hour away, we still hoped to catch her. Unfortunately, no. When we arrived home, there was destruction everywhere. Downed trees, a destroyed roof, and a frightened neighbor. We haven't had a storm like this near our home in several years, and we missed it. This year has not been our year for good storm cells photos, but we did catch a few lightning, in fact, we caught quite a few from our apartment window, at least that.
I know that storms can be very dangerous, especially when the hail comes along, and this year it destroyed quite a few crops and houses. There is devastation all over the world due to bad weather and a lot of people have lost their homes, and I don't want this to happen to anyone.
But since you can't do anything against nature, at least we tried to make something good out of it. Pictures.
Let's see what we managed to capture in the lens this year.
“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.” ― Vivian Greene
Summer 2023 be ready, we are already waiting.
With love, 
