We invite all Photo Section members to our January 2021 online meeting with storm chaser Mike Olbinski from Phoenix, Arizona. Please continue reading if you’re interested.
To accommodate the schedule of our presenter, this meeting is in the evening.
Meeting date and time are at the end of this invitation. The Zoom link will be sent to members a few days ahead of the meeting.
The Art of Chasing Storms
In his talk “The Art of Chasing Storms”, Mike will share his story with us: how he got into storm chasing and where it led him, together with a recap of his 2020 storm chasing season and how it went, despite the pandemic. And he will of course be available to answer your questions about storm chasing and storm photography.
About Mike
Having lived in Arizona his whole life, Mike learned to appreciate unusual things like clouds, rain, and weather – in particular, the cool breezes after a monsoon thunderstorm that bring relief during the hot summer months. As a kid, Mike used to watch lightning out of his window with his brother, and he took his first pictures of clouds while in high school. Now he’s chasing storms. Or do the storms chase him?
Mike is a professional wedding photographer year round, photographs families in the fall/winter/spring, and, in his own words, “then I go nuts chasing storms in the spring and summer.” Because the summers in Arizona bring monsoon thunderstorms — and that’s when he is chasing the amazing clouds, awesome dust storms, and serious amounts of lightning. He self-published three volumes of his annual storm chasing adventures throughout Arizona and has an extensive gallery of storm imagery from around the state.
Time-lapse in particular has become a huge part of what he does. His mission every storm season, on the plains and in Arizona, is to record as much weather as he can for his short films.
This timelapse work, for which he also won an Emmy, has been licensed for countless documentaries, commercials, films and on television. Highlights include licensing by Al Gore, storm footage used in the North America series, State Farm and Acura commercials, ESPN Super Bowl promos, the motion picture “Thor: The Dark World” and, most recently, a Pearl Jam music video.
Head on over to his website to see his wedding and portrait photography, and check out his storm photography and timelapses. Make sure to also follow him on Instagram.
Gallery
Here are some of Mike’s photos:
MemberShare
After the main presentation, we’ll take a short break before we continue with our MemberShare. Here’s a quick reminder of the guidelines and procedure:
- Send up to five photos via Dropbox file request.
- Please send only JPEG files, sRGB color space
- Minimum resolution: 1920 pixels wide or 1080 pixels high (whichever comes first)
- Prepare to speak no more than 10-20 seconds on each photo
- We’re a photo club – please share only your original photographs with us (no CGI, digital art, etc.)
- Deadline for MemberShare submissions: Friday, January 15th, 6pm
- Nameplates: feel free to include a portrait format headshot with your photos
To submit your images, simply click this button:
If you need help or if there’s anything unclear about this procedure, the Dropbox help article on file requests contains everything you need to know.
NOTE: Your photos are only shown during MemberShare and will be deleted afterwards. We do not keep copies. There is no need to watermark your photos. If you feel that you must add a logo or other overlay, please keep it small and unobtrusive.
Also, please do not wait until the very last minute to submit the photos you want to share. We need time to prepare the image presentation. When the MemberShare is especially popular, we may have to reduce the amount of images from each member. If that happens we will announce it before MemberShare begins, and hope for your understanding.
Meeting Date & Time
To attend the meeting, you must be a member of the Photo Section. Our memberships run for the duration of the calendar year, so January is a great time to join us. Membership is only $25 and available online. Take a look at our membership page to learn more.
ATTENTION: To accommodate the schedule of our presenter, this meeting is in the evening!
- Zoom Online Video Meeting (for members only)
- More information about our online meetings is here: Online Meetings
- If you never used Zoom before, you can download the client software here.
- Members will receive a link to join the meeting via email
- Date: Saturday, January 16, 2020
- 6.30 PM opening of meeting (please join early if you never used Zoom before!)
- 7 PM start of meeting & main presentation