Panorama of a tornadic storm over Kiawah Island

On Aug. 1, I was driving to my West Ashley home after work when I looked to the south and saw a large anvil cloud. It was associated with a thunderstorm over Kiawah Island, where the PGA Championship golf tournament was set to take place in the next few weeks. While I was snapping photos for this multi-image panorama, I received a text message saying a weak tornado was spotted under this storm. It was too far off to chase down.

Foliage shots from a quick trip north

I flew to Maine last week for my grandfather's funeral, and I had a few chances to shoot the fall foliage. Above is a panorama of Stump Pond in Lincoln, about an hour from my hometown. I've been there before.

The sun didn't show itself much during my stay. This was as good as it got.

The dam at Stump Pond.

Not much wind on this day, but sunshine would have made the colors pop.

Near Topsfield, which is about 20 minutes from my hometown, the wind was stiff, and the foliage wasn't quite as colorful.

Near my parents' place in Princeton, I ventured out and took some shots. Guess what this is? Yeah, it's a mushroom. And a few leaves.

Orange and red maple leaves, backdropped by birch trees.

Yellow maple leaves on the roadside.

Maple leaves near a cabin on my parents' dirt street.

The view from my parents' property, looking over Grand Falls Flowage.

I was raised on the end of a peninsula on the lake, which offered sunset views. This one featured a couple of loons.

A storm's backside

Click for larger view. On July 17, I ran over the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, as usual, and saw this storm form and move off to the north. I thought the view was somewhat interesting, as a storm's rear is usually shrouded by rain and rarely photogenic.

Intense lightning, a shelf cloud and another bridge

On July 24, I drove a short distance to the Ashley River, where the North Bridge connects Charleston and North Charleston. I set up by the river as a severe thunderstorm rolled through. The above shot is of the shelf cloud that it formed, and a crescent moon.

Even at night, the layers in the clouds were plain to see when lit by lightning.

The lightning was frequent, but I struggled to capture it without my rain-ruined Nikon, which is equipped with a remote control.

The precipitation seemed focused in the central section of the storm.

Lightning through the rain.

The lightning illuminated some nice structure underneath this storm. It was surprisingly healthy for a storm that formed after sunset and persisted in the nighttime hours.

The shelf cloud directly overhead.

I looked in the other direction and saw the shelf cloud pushing into Charleston.

A branching bolt extended from a low cloud.

It's electric.

A closeup.

After a bit, the rain became unbearable, and I took cover under the bridge, where people where casting nets for fish.

This shot represents four sequential strikes in the same column. Unlike anything I've heard, thunder actually rang out four distinct times. Deafening.

A tree and a lens that are no longer with us

Back in March, I visited my girlfriend in Charleston, W.V., and used my macro lens for the last time. I shot some bees that were swarming in the blossoms of this tree near her house.

Sadly, however, both the tree and the lens are long gone. The tree fell in June during the destructive derecho -- a large and long-lasting complex of thunderstorms -- that started in the Midwest, swept across the Appalachians and marched straight to the coast. And my macro lens, of course, was stolen earlier that same month.