As an EF-2 tornado swept across downtown Atlanta, one local photographer snapped the shot of a lifetime.
Shane Durrance was on top of his condominium off Howell Mill Road when he saw the potential for a great photo of the downtown area. He took the photo just as 11Alive’s Paul Ossmann was talking about tornado warnings in Atlanta.
Durrance, who is an acquaintance of Ossmann’s, sent the photo to 11Alive and said he believed he’d missed catching the tornado on film. But after Ossmann reviewed the picture, he assured Durrance that he had indeed gotten the shot.
The picture shows a light-gray vertical strip of what looks like clouds connecting the cityscape to the larger clouds above. That is the actual tornado. Ossmann said it didn’t look like the usual sort of funnel cloud because it was embedded in rain showers at the time of the photograph.
NOTE FROM TURTLEMOM: Mr. Durrance is asking people to take the photo off their blogs, so I’m doing that before he asks me. Please note, however, that I had given him full credit for the photo and had not earned a single penny from putting it on my blog. I am a native Atlantan, and have a vested interest in documenting what happpens to my city!
I just got asked by Mr. Durrance to remove the image from my blog. I gave him credit for the photograph, linked it to his website, and haven’t collected a single dime for the image. Now he wants me to remove it promptly. Before you get your request to cease posting the image, it might be best to take it down.
Thanks for the “heads-up” – I’ll take the photo off immediately!