so i am new here

[Troy Boerner]

hey guys my name is troy and i go by zooguy online .... i have been in love with natures beauty in the sky for most of my life and now i am starting to go into it a little more casue i enjoy it so much. i am going to post my pics of the stuff i have collected here .... so far (sadly) everything is cellphone pics and videos .... so i apologise for the sub standard quality here but i hope soon i can get some better equipment.

here we go.

 

[Troy Boerner]

these are a few of my favorite pics ... all taken on a cellphone, a galaxy note 3, and all taken at night .... around 1am

 

[Troy Boerner]

here are some video i have taken again .... filmed on a cellphone .... and please forgive the poor audio commentary i am still new and get a little excited.

these first are all of the same tornado

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2T1gs6xOIM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgAFsXIeqTg

about 10 miles further east trying to stay ahead of it and i see its birth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZTjCe--MF0 <--- silly/ excited audio .... sound like a dork

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSklMiwENJw <---- best video of the start of the tornado

now at this point a very sad / frustrating thing happened ... i had about 8 min total of footage of this tornado in its larger stages .... sadly i was filming with a cellphone .... and i knew i couldnt take long segments of video. so i stopped the video and the phone froze and corrupted the data and i lost some of the best footage i have collected thus far .... after rebooting the phone these are the last few seconds i got of this same tornado.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYxBzdiQKlo



i want to say this for anyone who my have this idea. I DO NOT AND KNOW BETTER then to get in the way of the professional chasers ... i know i am a novice and know to stay out of the pros doing their job to protect the public. yes on this day and chase my path crossed the Reed Timmer "dominator" team several times ... I DIDNT FOLLOW THEM OR THEIR ROUTE. i had my own gps and projected path of the storm .... any time our paths crossed i would yield to them and let them go by or pass without slowing them down.

everyone here remembers the May 20, 2013 F5 tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma. i have several videos i will not upload as the are too emotional for me to do so ... i have a few private ones on youtube .... but this is the only one i made public.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vCRyQA5_gw




okay and a few days later on may 31, 2013 the tornado that hit the will rogers world airport ... i was directly NNE of the tornado about 2 miles and i was in the hail core ... my phone died just after this video but there was baseball to softball hail that began to fall so i got off the highway and hid under a over pass and let the hail move past.
while on the highway a billboard can be seen off to the right of the highway ... keep your eye on it as i drive near .... NSFW language!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNKjgu1aKds

 

[StephenHenry]

That May 31st video was pretty intense! That south to north wind would have scared me, thinking the tornadoes were south of the interstate.

Even more than running out of batteries or filming out of focus, my biggest nightmare is getting good tornado footage and then losing it somehow. I'd be devastated. Even though the Peter Jackson King Kong movie wasn't that great, I related to Jack Black's character always wanting to get those shots, and I was heartbroken when he lost everything. I feel your pain over the corrupted cellphone.

Also, as long as you are following the rules of the road and being courteous, a "pro" chaser has no more right to the road than anyone else.

 

[Kevin Rimcoski]

Welcome! New here as well. Great pics regardless of phone, the quality still looks pretty good

 

[Steve Miller]

Troy,
I'm very interested in seeing your non-published Moore tornado video/pics. If you ever release them, please shoot me a message.
Welcome to Stormtrack!

 

[Adam Lucio]

Welcome aboard, that is some pretty intense video from May 31st, that tornado likely passed just behind you. A little advice though...if you're going to stop on the road, please use the shoulder and don't just stop in the middle of the lane. Its all a learning experience.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Hi Troy, welcome to Stormtrack. Loved your May 19 tornado shots.

i want to say this for anyone who my have this idea. I DO NOT AND KNOW BETTER then to get in the way of the professional chasers ... i know i am a novice and know to stay out of the pros doing their job to protect the public. yes on this day and chase my path crossed the Reed Timmer "dominator" team several times ... I DIDNT FOLLOW THEM OR THEIR ROUTE. i had my own gps and projected path of the storm .... any time our paths crossed i would yield to them and let them go by or pass without slowing them down.

Believe it or not, we're all equals out there. The courtesies you extend to the Dominator crew, including not following them or bottlenecking traffic near them, are courtesies that all chasers should extend to each other. Reed and crew are doing the exact same thing you are: looking for tornadoes and taking pictures of them. They aren't saving lives. The only ones who are saving lives are emergency workers and first responders including police, fire, and EMS. Those are the guys you have to yield to, get out of the way of, and not follow. The rest of us chasers are all sharing the road though so we need to be safe and courteous to each other.

Reiterating on what Stephen and Adam said, I don't think you need to focus so much on how professional you appear to others, but more so on your own safety. Do get in there, get an awesome shot, and have fun, but be super super careful. Stopping on the interstate is extremely dangerous, and so is stopping on the shoulder, which should only be done in an emergency. It scares me thinking of some chaser distracted by his laptop or a panicked local plowing into another chaser who is shooting from the shoulder. These guys are whizzing past mere inches from you at 70-80 mph and they're looking at the clouds and their screens, not you. Take the next exit, and pull off into the grass or a turn out away from the road. Your video will be so much better for it too.

 

[Troy Boerner]

Welcome aboard, that is some pretty intense video from May 31st, that tornado likely passed just behind you. A little advice though...if you're going to stop on the road, please use the shoulder and don't just stop in the middle of the lane. Its all a learning experience.

...um ... the highway was "shut down"

 

[Adam Lucio]

Vehicles were still coming behind you, and one even went around you on the shoulder. Luckily they were able to see you in those conditions. Just trying to give some helpful advice, no need to get snippy. If you want to increase your risk of being rear ended thats up to you, its a free country. Chase on

 

[Troy Boerner]

Vehicles were still coming behind you, and one even went around you on the shoulder. Luckily they were able to see you in those conditions. Just trying to give some helpful advice, no need to get snippy. If you want to increase your risk of being rear ended thats up to you, its a free country. Chase on

my apologies adam ... the response was not meant to be snippy .... more of admitting guilt ... i was in an area i was not supposed to be :/

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I got yelled at by OHP once for going through their rolling road block. I don't understand why they close roads around tornadoes. Seems like a huge liability to me. Either way, be courteous and pull the F over OFF the road if possible. So many times I am following someone who can't make up their mind and they are hitting their brakes and looking out their window instead of paying attention to driving. Either pull off and look at the storm or drive the speed limit and pay attention to the road.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Troy, no one here will bash you on a personal level. A lot of criticism here is not only for your safety, but for the safety of others. Adam and Ben make great points. Don't take a lot of this stuff personal. Most of us don't care that you're a noob chaser, we just want to make sure you're safe. I just don't want you to think people are trying to put you down on this site, that's all.

As for your first tornado...very good intercept. My first one was no where near that photogenic. And you handled yourself quite well despite the traffic. Didn't lose your cool or make a lot of mistakes on the road. I commend you, sir.

 

[Robert Forry]

Welcome Troy!

We all start somewhere, so don't apologize. Just stay humble, willing to learn, and open to feedback from the "vets" on here. They know what they're talking about..

Always think Safety first..

Thanks for sharing the vids and pics. Cool stuff - looking forward to more...

 

[Troy Boerner]

thanks guys I appreciate it I really would feel more comfortable if I could locate a copilot who could go with me and read the radar while I navigate ... it gets a little bit difficult trying to capture video and pictures as well as read the radar so I know I'm in position and drive to said position. I'm hoping eventually I won't be going alone