BIOGRAPHY LAST EDITED: 23/01/2012

Thunderstorms are one of the most powerful and illusive wonders of nature known to mankind. Each one is unique in characteristic, and they have the power to distract our attention or make us run for cover. Storm chasers and enthusiasts alike thrive off the unpredictable power of this natural force of nature, and want to embrace it by documenting the unknown.

Keen on severe weather photography and the dynamics of the atmosphere, this website is a collage of my photography over the years and some explanations of what is happening in each scenario. I used to be terrified of storms when I was a minor, however my passion grew as my curiosity towards them deepened. I learnt much about how they worked in my early teens when I acquired a video camera. Using this as my main tool for storm photography, I started filming thunderstorms hoping to capture this ferocious power on tape.

I like to try and document every aspect of a thunderstorm if possible where shots of lightning and cloud development are my favoured goals. Obviously a tornado would be a gracious bonus. Storms T0014 and T0027 were UK-based thunderstorms that produced a tornado (or 2 in the case of T0027). With a typical storm I will try and capture the cloud structures as a thunderstorm approaches on the horizon, then the electric action when it arrives up close, and then the cloud structures again as it drifts away. T0054 and T0074 are excellent examples of this. I also went to the States to seek out a more worthy adversary, such as T0077.

As you will see once you trawl through the various areas of the website, up until 2007 I haven't really needed to move from my own doorstep to get some good footage. This was largely due to the blessing I was given by living in what is known as the "Cheshire Gap", where mesoscale convergence often takes place, forming showers relentlessly in an unstable northwesterly flow. I also had a cracking view from being positioned on the top of a hill. But its not all thunderstorms. I also do a fair bit of cloud and optical phenomena photography which will eventually make it onto the site.

I often view the weather as the natural display of the cosmos; there could be no life on this planet yet all this weather would still be happening, and we have absolutely no control over it.

The Meaning of "Ravenstorm"
Interesting really, the website started it's life out as a modern club/dance music website (rave) in 2003 after I got into DJ-ing and music collecting, but I also wanted to put my thunderstorm photography on it (storm), so the website was dubbed "Rave'N'Storm". Also, my internet alias used to be “Raven”. So, based on "RaveNstorm" and instead of "Thunderstorm" I promoted the site under the pseudonym "Ravenstorm" and it caught on. It also makes a good brand name along with the logos. I designed the site around a dark, gothic theme in suit of the supernatural ambience thunderstorms have about them.

What's the website got to offer?
The Thunderstorms section displays sample-quality footage of thunderstorm photography. Each storm has it's own page and basic interpretation of the weather situation and the characteristics of the storm. There is a Highlights page which picks out the best storms from the archive. Current Weather is where you can observe a few basic charts of current weather conditions in the UK and Europe supplied automatically by meteorologica.co.uk. Please note the data may not be accurate or up to date and is unmonitored.
Know Your Storms is a section where the physical aspects of thunderstorms and meteorology are explained on a basic level..
The Weather Photos section (will soon) hold the best of my general weather photography such as clouds and optical phenomena, where also the full quality images are held offline if anyone wants to purchase them for licensed use.
The Website messageboard is where you can interact with other weather enthusiasts on my network.

What's to come?
Apart from finishing off the content, my future plans for the website are to start constructing focused analysis’s on exceptional thunderstorm events. Also, any suggestions to enhance the website are welcome and you can contact me on the Contact page or post your suggestions on the message board. On the photography side of things, my aim is always going to be to expand the archive of weather and storm photography. A personal ambition of mine is to achieve some dramatic volcanic photography, such as lava fountains and volcanic lightning. The Icelandic volcanoes near the UK have inspired me and I went to visit Eyjafjallajokull in October 2010 after it erupted.

I hope you enjoy the website and please feel free to contact me with any comments.

Mark Seltzer