The out-of-this-world pictures of terrifying storms captured by a daredevil photographer who ran toward dangerous weather instead of away from it

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Moment of impact: Photographer Mitch Dowbrowner captured this image of a tornado touching down in Regan, North Dakota in 2011. It is titled 'Rope Out'

These are the out-of-this-world pictures produced by a landscape photographer who ran toward terrifying storms instead of away from them.
Mitch Dobrowner has had a passion for photograph since he was a teenager growing up on Long Island, New York.
He made his home in the American Southwest, the site of many spectacular and deadly weather events.

Strike in the distance: Called simply 'Road,' this image taken outside Guymon, Oklahoma in 2009 shows a bolt of lightning reaching down from the heavens

His work has been recognized around the world, placing first at the International Photography Awards in 2009 and 2010.
'Landscapes are living eco systems and environments. They have existed well before, and will hopefully be here way beyond the time we are here,' he writes on his blog.
Nearly all of the stunning images were shot in the western U.S. - where the wide expanses of the Great Plains and high deserts allow massive tornadoes, thunderheads and other storms to unfold without visual interruption.

Otherworldly: This cloud formation, photographed near Obar, New Mexico, in 2009, is titled 'Mothership' and it truly resembles an alien spacecraft preparing to land on Earth

Mr Dobrowner's impressive work has been featured in the National Geographic magazine and published in dozens of other outlets.
'Hopefully the images presented help communicate how I feel and what I see during those times,' he writes.

Downpour: Mr Dobrowner called this 2010 photo 'Monsoon.' He has managed to capture a massive raincloud drenching the arid land near Lordsburg, New Mexico

Massive: This is image captures a mesocyclone, a vortex of air that can be a precursor to a tornado. However this weather phenomenon, seen in Valentine, Nebraska, in 2009, can be up to 50 miles wide

'Jupiter': This swirling storm was captured outside Mobridge, South Dakota, in 2011

Impending doom: This image, 'Funnel Cornfield' reveals a funnel cloud forming outside Northfield, Minnesota, in 2010.

Breathtaking: 'Dark Star,' shot in 2011 outside Gainsville, Texas, manages to capture the massive scale of a rainstorm on the wide expanses of Texas

Ominous: Mr Dobrowner has photographed so many storms that that he has begun to see images in the clouds that make certain formations distinctive. This 2010 photo from Moorcroft, Wyoming, is titled 'Bear's Claw'

This 2010 storm near Glendale, North Dakota, is named 'Barber Pole' - though the title hardly captures to withering power of the swirling air mass

Taken in Galacia, Kansas, in 2009, Mr Dobrowner doesn't seem too far off with his title for this image - 'Arm of God'

Endless: 'Wall Cloud' shows a storm that seems to stretch endlessly outside Davidson, Wyoming, in 2009

'Vapor Cloud,' shot outside Clayton, New Mexico, in 2009, reveals a massive 'foot' descending from the larger storm cloud

The lonely outcropping of trees near Texline, Texas, adds a sense of scale to this 2009 photo titled 'Trees-Clouds'

Rumbling: 'Storm over Field' reveals a massive rainstorm that set in over Lake Poinsett, South Dakota

source: dailymail