I woke up this morning with an email from a friend back in Chicago warning me that several people were sending around a picture on Facebook that I took, claiming that it was theirs. Apparently there were some pretty ominous clouds over Chicago and someone either mistakenly (or intentionally) said that this picture was taken yesterday of the same storm and at some point, the image went viral on Facebook and Reddit with several people claiming they took it:
I've got prints of the image available for sale in my store here.
I'm glad that people really appreciate this picture, I've always liked this shot and it's really flattering to see so many people get excited about it. Copyright/intellectual property infringement aside, it is a bit upsetting that people would claim they took it or claim erroneously that it depicts something that happened yesterday although it actually happened four years ago. (I blogged about it right after I took these shots several years ago.) If anything, I'd like to make sure I get credit for the picture because I was the moron who was stuck in a helicopter taking pictures during a massive lightning storm and I probably used up a lot of my good luck taking those pictures.
If you happen to see someone claiming credit for this picture or sharing it from someone else who claims that they've taken it, can you politely correct them, tell them that I took it and point viewers here?
Thanks!
