Eye of the storm

Bad weather makes for not-so-bad photos. On the heels of Tauktae and Yaas, we got storm chasers and weather photographers to say why they made nature their most elusive muse

Rainy, windy, stormy days may stifle photographic ambitions for most, but  for weather photographers they are an open invitation to head out. In fact, this breed brainstorms about images long before a cyclone strikes. 

But because they are up against nature, even the best laid-out plan can go awry when the subject decides to play truant. Those in the business admit it’s a challenging genre, but also the most rewarding one. Afterall, who doesn’t enjoy a dose of dark skies, lightning storms and rainbow clouds, while at work?

‘The winds shattered my GoPro and tripod’

Mammatus clouds are commonly found in the vicinity of thunderstorms and are said to be harbingers of extreme weather. Eye-catching and picturesque, especially at sunset, the clouds made an appearance in Mumbai before Tauktae. Pics/Ujwal Puri

Ujwal Puri, Mumbai
Last month, when cyclone Tauktae was charging towards Gujarat, bringing with it heavy rain and gusty winds, photographer Ujwal Puri did not sleep a wink. He lay awake for over 28 hours, monitoring its movement on Windy app, Skymet weather and IMD’s Twitter page. While everyone stayed indoors, Puri had to step out to document the extreme weather conditions. “The kind of wind speed we witnessed this time was unprecedented. It shattered my GoPro, which fell off the roof of my home in Colaba. Even the tripod tipped over and broke into pieces. I was intent on capturing its journey from arrival to aftermath, though,” he says of the storm that hit Mumbai on May 17 before a landfall in Veraval, Gujarat. Puri is no stranger to the vagaries of nature. His Instagram account, which has 45.5k followers, is peppered with beautiful but terrifying images of lightning streaks and ominous clouds. Puri’s interest in weather photography goes beyond that of an average Joe. There’s a way to go about capturing weather phenomena, he tells us. “For instance, I studied how to capture lightning, which involves understanding the direction in which the storm is moving and studying the static energy in the sky. It’s a dangerous activity because there’s a possibility of getting electrocuted. If you’re standing in an open space, the tripod and the camera become good conductors.” According to NASA data, around 40 lightnings strike globally per second and more than 2,000 thunderstorms happen simultaneously every day around the globe. That said, it’s not easy capturing weather occurrences in a megapolis, where residents have long resigned themselves to seeing open skies and stars only on vacation in remote areas. “Venezuela is the lightning capital of the world. Africa has 283 prone spots. But here, you need to make the most of the few moments that we get. Once, I’ve stood for eight hours for a picture and went home without a worthy shot.” His prized shot is of lightning hitting the tip of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers and the Gateway of India at the same time. 

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Ujwal Puri

‘I travelled for Northern Lights, but saw snow storms instead’

Iridescent cloud shot in 2020, from Karnala Bird Sanctuary. These clouds are caused by tiny ice crystals or water droplets in the air. Larger ice crystals produce lunar or solar halos, but tiny ice crystals or water droplets cause light to be diffracted–spread out–creating this rainbow-like effect in the clouds. Pic/Pranav Vissanji

Pranav Vissanji, Mumbai
In 2018, business consultant and photographer Pranav Vissanji, made a trip to the Arctic Circle in Santa Claus Village, Finland, to capture the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights, visible on roughly 200 nights a year, are caused when the charged particles from the sun strike atoms and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, producing an ethereal display of coloured lights shimmering across the night sky. “It was peak winter when the temperatures would drop below -18 degrees Celsius. For those five days, we waited patiently with our tripods in the biting cold. But the clouds did not open up and we never got a chance to see the Northern Lights. People who went a week after us were in for a treat, because by then the skies had cleared up.” What Vissanji got to witness instead were heavy snow storms.  “Patience and luck are crucial elements in weather photography. You can plan ahead and make estimates, but ultimately you cannot control nature.” That said, perseverance does pay off. During a trip to the Andaman Islands, Vissanji had gone deep sea diving when it started raining. “I managed to get a shot of the raindrops hitting the ocean while I was underwater. It was surreal. I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time.” Though driven and passionate about his work, the 34-year-old tries not to be a daredevil. “Foolhardiness to capture a shot can be dangerous. There are some sessions that you just have to abort. You can always chase another time.”

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Pranav Vissanji

‘A close range tornado has evaded me’

A supercell with tornado near Quanah, Texas. The thunderstorm is characterised by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft

Tim Baca, New Mexico
In 2017, when Tim Baca, a New Mexico-based photographer, drove to a nearby town with his mother “to see a storm”, he was surprised to learn that they weren’t alone. A swarm of photographers had descended on Tucumcari to capture the weather phenomenon. “It seemed really exciting to me. That May, I got into a truck and drove out to Tornado Alley and jumped headfirst into it!” 

A magnificent sculpted supercell, or a mesocyclone weather formation of thunderstorm clouds, drifts across Sublette, Kansas. Pic/Tim Baca

Baca has been chasing storms since. Last year, he was named Photographer of the Year at Storm Photos of the Year, a new photo competition launched by seasoned storm and landscape photographer Mike Olbinski. Baca’s approach to weather photography is situational, driven by what he’s looking to photograph. “If I’m in a classic supercell structure, I like to be east southeast of the storm in an area called the vault. For tornadoes, it depends on the type, but north of the storm gives a great grand structure view.” A classic supercell is a type of thunderstorm that develops in an environment where the upper-level storm-relative winds are between 
40-60 knots. 

Tim Baca

Needless to say, barrelling down country roads to capture the “money shot” of a raging tornado, is laden with risks. “I’d say the biggest is actually the amount of miles on the road. Lightning, extremely large hail, and tornadoes are some of the more obvious ones,” he adds. This year, he was pummelled by over three-inch hail, which busted his windshield. In 2017, on  his first day out chasing, his vehicle was overtaken by a weak tornado while crossing the highway. “Fortunately, it didn’t do any damage, but could have been way worse if it was stronger.” His most memorable image, though, is the one that he clicked in Kansas of, what he calls, an amazing sculpted supercell or a thunderstorm characterised by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. “At times, the supercell stayed in the same spot, twisted for over an hour in front of me.  I managed to time lapse it on two separate cameras and just stand there in awe taking in the beauty.” One shot that’s evaded him so far is a close-range tornado. “This season, I’ve witnessed more than 20 tornadoes, but 
none at the distance I would love to experience.”

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‘You have a few secs to capture a microburst’

A full rainbow captured at Kalsubai, the highest peak in Maharashtra at 5,400 ft. The mountain range lies within the Kalsubai Harishchandragad Wildlife Sanctuary. The vantage point offers a beautiful view, says Shrikant Shimpi, who has trekked to the point over 30 times. Pic/Shrikant Shimpi

Shrikant Shimpi, Pune 
It’s his love for the outdoors that inspired Pune photographer Shrikant Shimpi to capture nature in all its glory. From the mighty Himalayas to the sprawling Sahyadri range, his portfolio is impressively diverse. Until now, he has trekked to Kalsubai, the highest point in Maharashtra, over 40 times, and made 35 trips to Ratangad, Bhandardara, also called the Jewel of the Sahyadris. “Continuity is very important in weather photography. My success ratio is 10:100. Far too often, I’ve lugged to mountain tops only to be greeted by intense fog. There’s no guarantee that I’ll get the same shot each time I go,” says Shimpi, who in 2016, won the National Award for Outstanding Work in photography, by the Government of India. Fortune has often smiled on him, when the fog lifts a morning after and imbues the sky with rich colours, and throws in a rainbow. 

Shrikant Shimpi

While treacherous terrain often produces breathtaking pictures, it’s hardly a cinch. “You are carrying a minimum of 30 kg on your back, which includes everything from your camera setup to food and water. There’s no place to sleep and there’s the danger of snakes and insects.” In the Himalayas, he has witnessed microburst, a pattern of short-lived winds that descend from rain clouds, hit the ground, and fan out horizontally. This unusual weather phenomenon causes a sudden surge of incredibly high winds. “You literally have three seconds to capture this, which is why it’s so important to be alert. It’s happened that I’m fumbling to find my camera and the moment has passed. Now, I keep my camera settings ready and the gadget is always around my neck.”

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