Is 2010 the most photogenic tornado year to-date?

Nice! Hope that logo in the corner of the video means he was paid well for the global exposure...

...I saw that. Pretty ridiculous in that some people are trying to make that video look like their own. I don't get it either: since severestudios.com already released that video on youtube, then why doesn't everyone just use that video instead of copying it and editing it themselves in an attempt to pass it off as their own?
 
I've really enjoyed the incredible posts and hard work by so many on this thread.

I'll echo that I started it with the term "photogenic" in mind, not based on tornado number. In 2008, the Quinter I & II tornados were spectacular, but weren't easy to photograph nor particularly well contrasted during most of their cycles. In fact, the better tornado photographically was the day before about 30 miles west (also over I-70) near Grainfield (see my site at http://stormdoctor.com/). For me, 2008 represented successful chase days with only so-so photography.

In May 24, 2004, was by far the most "epic" day I've ever chased. With >6 tornados (both mesocyclone and non-MSTs) simultaneously on the ground about me, landspouts, wedges, and cones...That was an epic day. The photos of the landspouts that day were great, the "mesocyclone" tornados were much more rain shrouded and less impressive on photographs.

Contrast this (pun intended) with Campo on 5/31/10...I had no synoptic scale hope of tornados that day...my original forecast busted, but I "settled" on where the action was shaping up...the most amazing slow-moving mesocscale blip occurred and we have my avatar photo as a result. Campo feels emblematic of 2010--a lot of these blips have occurred, many under perfect synoptic scale situations, some under situations where hope for chaseable tornados were limited (think: Bowdle, SD, and Bill Hark's amazing photo).

Both '08 and '04 had forecast days during my chase vacations that were textbook examples of severe weather generators, and both had these systems persist multiple days in a row.

What I meant when I originally posted this thread is that 2010 has been generally the most visually spectacular (as recorded on film or video) of all tornado years. Great comparisons (particularly by Skip, et al. above) show that 2010 has been a feast (rather than famine).

Could this be a bias of the number of chasers? The number of higher quality video and photo capture devices? Sure, all those things exist.

But that 2010 continues to impress with staggeringly beautifully captured tornados such as the one in MN just the other day...it's just been incredible. Just when I think, "man--that's the most amazing tornado photo ever", I see yet another new storm photo that makes me just gape...

This thread has added to the fodder (and dredged up some photos I hadn't looked at for years :)!). Man, I can only hope that next year I'll be posting a similar thread about 2011's tornados!
 
If one were to answer the question of this thread "Is 2010 the most photogenic tornado year to date?" without any other variables, then the answer has to be yes. We have seen photogenic tornadoes in TX/OK/KS/CO/SD/MN/IL/MT......and the season is still going as of mid-August! There has been more photogenic tornado video/photos generated from this year than anyears past. Based on purely answering the question of this thread I have a hard time seeing how there is any debate at this point.
 
If one were to answer the question of this thread "Is 2010 the most photogenic tornado year to date?" without any other variables, then the answer has to be yes. We have seen photogenic tornadoes in TX/OK/KS/CO/SD/MN/IL/MT......and the season is still going as of mid-August! There has been more photogenic tornado video/photos generated from this year than anyears past. Based on purely answering the question of this thread I have a hard time seeing how there is any debate at this point.

There is debate, because many of use still believe that 2004 was the most photogenic tornado year. Of course there are going to be more photogenic tornado videos/photos from 2010, there are twice as many chasers and much better photo/video equipment. There are many photogenic events from 2004 that don't have many images available or that don't have any images available at all for whatever reason. I'm still not convinced that 2010 is better than 2004 in any sense.

I don't know if this is the case with you or not, but it seems that many who are on the "2010 is by far better than 2004" weren't chasing in 2004 or have no way to compare the two beyond images that may still be available on the web today. I just wish that half the images from 2004 that were available that year online were still available today.
 
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Another unforeseen tornado machine in 2010 was the Dupree, SD storm. I wish wish...wish WISH WISH WISH I was on that one. The thing sat there and just burped out tornado after tornado after tornado.

Ive gone through the 04 photos posted here...2010 still has my vote. I don't care about the fact they weren't perfect easy to chase dryline setups in the plains during May. That doesn't change any of the facts that there has been an impressive amount of beautiful tornadoes in 2010 regardless of how and where they came to be.
 
I will never concede defeat lol As others have said there was many tornadoes in 2004 that were photogenic that we don't have photos for. 2004 had more tornadoes and if we had a picture for every single one of them maybe some of you would change your minds. I will say 2010 has impressed me. I don't remember many years with an active august. The only thing about 2010 that did not impress me was March and April and Iowa. Iowa has not had many tornadoes this year.
 
2010 is continuing to impress IMO with several more nice tornadoes in Minnesota a few days ago and some beautiful ropes in Colorado yesterday. I also consider how these are developing in nice chase terrain which is a huge part of it...at least to me anyway.

Taking a look at the GFS well into the long range I am seeing an active pattern to continue for as far out as the models go and I have a feeling the fall will be a good one, I mean why not? This has been one special season that continues to impress with beautiful, high contrast tornadoes all over Tornado Alley allowing everyone in all reaches of the Plains to get their fair share from Texas to the Dakotas even Illinois! Soak it in everyone because I don't think we will see another season like this for a long, long time.
 
Yeah, I'm going to drag this thread up each time someone scores an awesome catch for the remainder of the year. Another huge one for 2010:

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Congrats to Shane and Bridget and others who scored this awesome tornado today. Not sure where we stand on the comparison sheet here but 2010 has to be gaining some serious ground.
 
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