8/9/2023 0 Comments Shelf cloud signs of a tornadoI have seen firsthand the power of this dynamic atmospheric river of energy that flows above us. The reason is not because I feel like I don’t know what I am doing, but because I have a solid respect for what I am documenting. But that’s part of the game, part of the allure of storm photography, I would say, to risk it all to see nature put on one of the best shows of power you could ever imagine.Īnother question I get a lot: “Mike, aren’t you afraid of tornadoes?” I’ve been documenting storms for more than two decades, and I still get scared a bit with each one. It happens-more times than not, to be honest. Some days, you slam dunk the forecast and get a wonderful storm to initiate in your target area other days, one element can be missing from the atmosphere, and you spend your whole day driving hundreds of miles for some horrible gas station food. You begin to bake to a crisp in the hot sun while pondering over which little cumulus cloud is going to go boom and grow into a 60,000-foot-tall supercell thunderstorm. And then filling up the gas tank and driving hundreds of miles to another middle-of-nowhere location in hopes that your forecasting skills are on point and nature decides to show up to the party.Įven then, you’re still not done. Choosing a target area based off the best analysis of data that you can make, keeping your fingers crossed you’re not driving in the wrong direction. Check the morning weather data while drinking lukewarm who-knows-how-old coffee and chowing down on breakfast. What’s a day of storm chasing like? Wake up in the middle of nowhere after getting a mediocre night’s sleep at a random hotel. Storm Photography: Challenges Of The Chase The thrill is real to get to document a subject that is only there for a few hours before literally vanishing into thin air. ![]() Each storm is unique and presents a variety of visuals to focus on, some more extreme than others, but all deserving to be in front of the lens. Others are small popcorn showers that give you a few sparks of lightning, and that’s your show. Some storms are monstrous supercells, towering up to 60,000 feet, dropping softball-sized hail and mile-wide tornadoes. It was then I started to intensely study as much as I possibly could about the weather, which included connecting with veteran storm chasers to learn the ropes of documenting extreme weather.Įach storm is so different than the last, and that’s one of the biggest excitements of storm photography because you never know what you’re going to see. When I eventually got a car, I headed out to the open fields nearby to start composing with better foregrounds than rooftops and water towers. I got my first camera at the age of 15, a Yashica MG-1, but I didn’t have a car, so I removed all the window screens from the second floor of my family’s home in Texas and photographed storms as they came through our town. ![]() I was mesmerized by the different types of clouds, how they moved across the sky, their colors and textures, and how some resembled dinosaurs, turtles and rabbits. That’s why I began this article with simply, “The sky is fascinating.” I can easily remember being that kid in elementary school who chose to lay on the picnic table staring up at the clouds rather than go on the playground during recess. People often ask why I document storms, considering that one wrong decision can easily lead to peril. As you can imagine, storm photography is full of endless challenges, from both a photographic standpoint and, more importantly, from one of safety. Documenting these storms, I find it incredible to witness firsthand just how powerful nature can be. This region, known as Tornado Alley, comes to life each spring as warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico interacts with cold dry air from Canada to produce “supercell” thunderstorms and tornadoes. ![]() A supercell thunderstorm twists its way through the atmosphere, bringing damaging winds and baseball-sized hail to Leoti, Kansas.įor the last 22 years, I’ve traveled hundreds of thousands of miles throughout the central United States in search of some of the most violent storms on Earth.
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