Three Bolts, by Brian Allen

Three lightning bolts above Washington DC
Image Caption
Three bolts of lightning strike near Washington DC.

Date and Location:
September 1, 2012
Arlington, Virginia, looking towards Washington DC

How this Photo was Taken:
“This photo was taken on September 1, 2012 in Rosslyn, Arlington, VA, US, using a Canon EOS REBEL T1i camera.

Wall of Dust, by Meggan Wood

A huge dust storm approaching
Image Caption
A huge dust storm approaches Maricopa, Arizona.

Date and Location:
July 5, 2011
Maricopa, Arizona

How this Photo was Taken:
“This photo was taken in a wash that runs through my neighborhood in Maricopa, AZ. The wash runs north/south through the neighborhood and the haboob (type of intense dust storm) was rolling in from the east.

It was taken on 7/5/11 in the afternoon, not long before sunset.

Thunderstorm, by Grant Petty

A huge thunderstorm cloud
Image Caption
A huge thundercloud in Dane County, Wisconsin.

Date and Location:
May 22, 2011
Dane County, Wisconsin

How this Photo was Taken:
“I was out on a farm with a photography club for the purpose of photographing farm life -- animals, barns, etc. I saw this impressive thunderstorm building several miles to the east of where we were and ended up focusing on that while the others in the group continued to follow the goats and horses around. This is one of many examples of how a completely unplanned photo wound up being among my best photos.