An overview of Extreme Weather Photography

1. Extreme Weather Photography
A closer look into the eye of the storm
By Sarah Wade
Photo by Ellen Denton – Taken in Springville, AL January 7, 2011

2. When we think of Photography, the first thing most people
are reminded of is the most common type of photography we are
exposed to; portrait photography. We see the kiosks in malls, in
grocery stores, at high school proms, and theme parks. They are
everywhere! Our children bring us those school picture day packets
and we order wallet size prints and ship them off around the world to
family and friends. If you look around you are bound to find an Olan
Mills photography studio in just about every major city and we all
know the Sears, or Wal-Mart family portrait studios. While this is a
very valid and popular genre, there are so many other genres of
photography and many of them go un-noticed by the general public.
One of the most eye catching, phenomenal genres of
Photography is that of Extreme Weather Photography. It takes a
special breed of person to get right up into the eye of the storm to
snap those pictures that keep us gawking at the size of the tornado,
the colors of the lightning or the intensity of the waves as they crash
through a city. It takes a bit of courage, some skill, and just a touch of
insanity to be a great Extreme Weather Photographer.

3. Extreme Weather
Photography
Extreme Weather Photography is not
something people generally think about when
they think of photography, taking pictures or
hiring photographers. It fits loosely into the
category of Editorial Photography.
Extreme Weather Photography can provide
useful information about storms, the way they
form, their land tracks, and in the aftermath of
a severe weather event, this type of
photography can be used to document the
damages caused by the storm.
The photo to the right is a photo clipped from a
video that I shot off of my front porch during a
severe thunderstorm in April of 2011. It is an
amateur example of Weather Photography.

4. The Nature of the Beast
Extreme Weather Photography can capture some of the most
eye catching, phenomenal photographs that can evoke a very
strong emotional response from the viewer.
Anyone who lived in Alabama on April 27, 2011 knows what it
feels like to be on the receiving end of a mother nature temper
tantrum. There were a confirmed 62 tornadoes that touched
down that day across the state of Alabama. There were storm
spotters from across the nation chasing these storms and
getting warnings out to people. Through the efforts of Extreme
Weather Photographers and storm chasers, we were able to
watch the tornadoes as they came, document their tracks, and
the damage they left in their wake.
Photographs of storms up close and personal can capture the
majesty and the temper of mother nature in ways most people
This photo was taken by Martha Tellefsen of tornados
would otherwise never see. crossing the lake in Guntersville, AL in April of 2009.

5. Map of the tracks
the tornadoes of
April 27th, 2011
took throughout
the state of
Alabama.

6. Extreme Weather Photography when
viewed as an editorial style can help to
document the damages caused by
storms and the recovery efforts of
communities to rebuild.
It can document the struggles
communities undergo, the emotional
struggles and heart warming strength
and compassion of strangers. It can
show how long it can take to recover
and remind people there is still a need
for aid, months and even years after
the actual weather event.
Top Photo was taken in Concord, AL
on May 5, 2011.
Bottom photo was taken in
Tuscaloosa, AL in the Alberta City area
86 days after the Tornados ripped the
countryside apart.
Photos by Scott McClellan, Alabama
Storm Spotters.

7. Special effects
One of the greatest things about Extreme Weather Photography is that
nobody can have the same picture twice. Weather is constantly
changing, shifting and moving and never repeats the exact same movement
or position twice. Some of the most amazing photos in Extreme Weather
Photography are completely unaltered, raw images, but sometimes a little
enhancement makes for an astonishingly awe inspiring art piece. Some of
the most commonly used processes for producing art pieces by Extreme
Weather Photographers are HDR Processing, Infrared and UV light
photography and extremely long exposure times.

8. HDR Photography is a processing effect
that layers multiple images captured at
varying exposures together to create a
“High Dynamic Range” photograph that
has a sharp, noiseless and vibrant
contrast. It can produce fantastic images
that show intense detail. It is a difficult
process to master as even the slightest
slow movement in the picture can cause
undesirable variants in the final image.
Once mastered, HDR can produce some of
the most eye catching, awe inspiring
images. The image to the right was taken
by Dean Souglass, after being layered
with multiple exposures, you can see the
detail in the shapes of the clouds, the
blades of grass and even the colors
emphasized.
Image by Dean Souglass – Used under CCLicense
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deansouglass

9. IR Photography
Normal visual light Infrared spectrum light
IR Photography uses Infrared lights to illuminate details that human eye cannot see
without assistance. It can provide more detailed information into the structure of a
storm as well as producing some eye catching, surreal photographs!
Both of these images were found on http://dpfwiw.com/ir.htm#esp

10. Extreme Weather Photographers
It takes a special breed of person to chase storms and get right in the path of
danger to snap photos and videos and to document extreme storms.
These are some of the best Extreme Weather Photographers in the world.
The King of Extreme: Jim Reed
http://www.jimreedphoto.com/
ExtremeInstability: Mike Hollingshead
http://www.extremeinstability.com
Fine Art and Weather Photographer: Dan Robinson
http://stormhighway.com/gallery.shtml
Jeff Berkes: Weather Photographer
http://jeffberkes.wordpress.com/
Michael Adam: Weather Photographer
http://home.fotocommunity.de/gewitterfront