See the best images from the Storm photo of the Year Awards

 

The winning images from the Storm Photo of the Year Awards have been announced. All the images were taken over the course of 2021, and the competition is divided into three categories: Photo of the Year, Tornado Photo of the Year and Photographer of the Year. The first two sought to find the most incredible, single photos taken from the prior year in their respective categories. And the third (portfolio) award looked to recognize the achievement of putting together an amazing set of 10 images taken in 2021.

There are some pretty impressive images, some of the tornado shots are quite incredible considering the fact that most of us would be turning to run in the opposite direction. But Storm Chasers are an entirely different breed it seems. You can see the top winning entries below.

Photo of the Year

First place went to Alexis Maillard with his arresting image of this lightning bolt in Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire, France. Second place was won by Brett Wright for his image of an imposing storm cloud dwarfing a church in Malta, Montana, and third place went to Enric Navarrete Bachs for his image of both a water spout and lightning over the city of Barcelona, Spain.

Tornado Photo of the Year

The title of Tornado Photographer of the year went to Everett Occhipinti with his image of a tornado ravishing a field of crops in Lockett, Texas.

Second prize was awarded to Isaac Polanski for his image of what looks like storm chasers meeting a huge tornado in Creston, Illinois:

And third prize went to William Reid for this image of a huge dust cloud and tornado also shot in Lockett, Texas:

Photographer of the Year

For this award photographers had to present a portfolio of ten images captured throughout the year 2021.

First place: Amy Howard:

 

Second Place: Tim Baca:

Third Place: Brett Wright:

You can find out more about the contest on the website.