STORM TRACK: May 31, 1981 (Volume 4 Issue 4)

The Time-Life Books staff have done some additional work on a forthcoming book about tornadoes and have asked me to pass on their photographic requirements. They ask, initially, to see your originals, which they will immediately duplicate and return. When final selection is made, you may be contacted and asked to send the originals for no more than about a month. The whole drift of this is to keep the originals in your hands as long as possible. For those of you who already have them, I am sure that good quality duplicates would also be acceptable in the initial mailing. Photography should be sent to: Barbara Hicks, Picture Research, Time-Life, 777 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. I believe that this will be a first, class production, so you are encouraged to participate as much as possible. Picture submissions are especially solicited in several "theme" areas, as follows:

1. For a cover picture, a tornado with no man made objects in the picture such as telephone lines/poles, structures, roads, etc. I presume that this also means a high contrast picture with some color differentiation, suitable for enlargement.

2. People running toward a shelter, with a tornado or threatening storm sky in the background.

3. Developing storm clouds characteristic of what will produce tornadoes, which actually were tornado breeders.

4. Storm clouds, developing or developed (line squalls, hailers, etc.), which were non-tornadic. Enough of the formation should be shown, such that the layman could tell the difference in similar, real-life situations.

5. The first tornado picture. Ms. Hicks is pursuing one possibility in Kansas but has very little specific information to go on (she does have a copy of the previous ST article on this subject).

6. Ground traces of suction vortices from or close to ground level. She has seen the Fujita aerial pics but desires a closer ground angle that displays good perspective, with clear foreground detail receding into the background.

7. Damage to dangerous structures such as nuclear reactors. Other possibilities might be damage to Government installations, such as Air Force bases, etc.

8. "Believe it or not" type pictures, such as straws through trees, wood through iron, cars through second story windows, etc. Unpublished pictures are preferred.

9. Pictures of houses/structures actually disintegrating beneath a tornado. I believe that something like this was shown at the last severs storms conference. If any of you have the address of the photographer, Ms. Hicks would very much appreciate the information.

10. Are any photographs extant from any of the Codell, Kansas tornadoes that struck that town on May 20, 1916, 1917 or 1918?

11. Sequence type photo series showing the life cycle of a tornado and/or a sequence showing a tornado approaching closer and closer to the viewer. Note: Ms. Hicks has seen or is aware of the Enid tornado pics but would prefer another tornado sequence -again, unpublished work is preferred.

That's about it. Don't overlook those unusual cloud shots, that no one can anticipate but which just might "fill the bill" for this particular publication.