How to Be a Storm Chasing Photographer

How to Be a Storm Chasing Photographer

Storm chasing is becoming very popular these days as people seek new adventures. Storm chasers are persons who actively pursue severe weather conditions for any reason: adventure, research, photos and video, or simply the adrenaline rush.

Tornado's are the most popular target for most chasers but thunderstorms, extreme cloud formations, lightning, and hail are some of the many events that can occur when chasing storms.
Research and scientific work has traditionally been the goal with storm spotters tracking and reporting hazardous weather to relevant authorities. These reports benefit the real-time warnings of science by increasing severe storm databases.

Mostly a recreational endeavor, storm chasing had become quite popular among photographers and videographers seeking the adventure of photographing events as they happen quickly. Tours and workshops are now pretty common allowing novices to get close to real time events as it happens.

Noted wildlife photographer Laurie Excell has been doing just that: taking photo workshops into the field to capture storms as they happen.

In this video we asked Laurie to tell us about storm chasing and photographing and she answered our questions about safety, photo equipment, preparing to photograph storm chasing, and more.

Storm chasing can require driving thousands of miles in pursuit of active and severe thunderstorms. And there is no guarantee of finding a storm let alone being there at the right time. Most storm chasers don't run from a storm, they follow it and get as close the the storm as deemed safe.

Chasing often requires a significant amount of time forecasting before and while in the field, analyzing weather data, and so a general understanding of meteorology insures better success. There are also numerous companies that provide storm chasing tours with experienced storm chasers leading the groups.

Laurie Excell's website of tours and workshops: laurieexcell.com

youtu.be/hcSKc_7V9fw

Additional Resources:

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_chasing
Storm Chasing Tours: tempesttours.com/
Warren Faidley, noted storm chaser: stormchaser.com/
Discovery Channel TV Show: discovery.com/tv-shows/storm-chasers
Storm Chasers Live: severestudios.com/livechase

Watch more of our videos:
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How to Succeed in Outdoor & Nature Photography youtu.be/73wWC4qBVN4
The Art of Digital Nature Photography youtu.be/pg-lVgSIQxc
How to Photograph a Mountain Man Rendezvous: youtu.be/Vews-3E7a00

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