Stephen Cheatley

I have always had an interest in photography throughout my life, ever since picking up my mum's Kodak Instamatic camera which took 126 film. I eventually progressed up to 35mm SLR photography in the 1990's before moving onto digital in the early 2000's. I joined an astronomy society in 2010 and this opened up a different type of photography to pursue. Many of the subjects in astronomy would overlap with meteorology, so this is where I became more interested in photographing wild weather, including lightning. I have always been fascinated by lightning, but always failed to capture it until the winning image.

Winning the RMetS Weather Photographer of the Year competition was an amazing experience for me. The image went viral originally, and winning the competition brought me a lot of publicity all over again. It was this win which made me decide to give up my previous work to pursue a career in professional photography. Having always been fascinated by wild weather & lightning storms, I am really looking forward to helping judge this year's competition.

You can find more information about Stephen's work on his website and the following social media channels - 

@Stephencheatley    @stephencheatleyphotography   @starman_1969