By ALENA HIGGINS
THE Southern Free Times’ resident photographer and avid storm chaser Terry West has been recognised for his breath-taking picture, Crimson Clouds.
National Geographic selected the stunning image of storm clouds hanging heavily over Spring Creek as its photo of the day, appearing on its website on Sunday.
Mr West, who submitted the photo via the internationally renowned publisher’s Your Shot section, now joins the illustrious company of some of the best photojournalists in the world.
But he admits it was not easy to capture the amazing shot.
“I took this shot after chasing a storm cell around the Southern Downs during the afternoon of 14 November 2013,” the Warwick local said.
“I was smashed by marble-sized hail and wind gusts up to 95km/h and also very heavy rain, which cut visibility down to about two metres.
“The lightning was crazy and I had a huge bolt strike about 50 metres from me.”
The talented snapper has been chasing and documenting storms for about five years, and modestly puts this one down to being in the right place at the right time.
“I tucked in behind the storm and started chasing it towards Toowoomba and as I went past Allora I noticed the sky starting to colour from the sunset,” he said.
“I went past the Clifton turn-off and just up the road a bit I saw this cloud starting to colour.
“This was the detritus left behind from the storm so I stopped and set up to snap some shots.”
Mr West said he always employed a back-up spotter who looked after his safety when he was chasing wild weather events.
He admits he is “amazed” by Mother Nature and the “ever-changing conditions she provides” and describes the moment the “whole scene in front of him turned red” as one of the most peaceful experiences he has had pursuing storms.
Even more impressive was the fact he was able to capture the moment in the first place, after accidently leaving his Canon 600D camera by the side of the road in the teeming rain half an hour earlier.
“When the storm hit, I headed up the road a bit to ride it out,” he explained.
“It was buried in hail and half drowned with water when I went back for it.
“This photo is the next shot I took with that camera!”
This is not Mr West’s first salute, with the former Higgins Storm Chaser winning a number of awards, including ranking 24th in the Canon Shine ’50 most powerful images of the world’, which were displayed in June at the NSW State Library in Sydney.
