Eye of the storm

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 strikesBut because they are up against nature even the best laidout plan can go awry when the subject decides to play truant Those in the business admit itrsquos a challenging genre but also the most rewarding one Afterall who doesnrsquot enjoy a dose of dark skies lightning storms and rainbow clouds while at worklsquoThe winds shattered my GoPro and tripodrsquoMammatus clouds are commonly found in the vicinity of thunderstorms and are said to be harbingers of extreme weather Eyecatching and picturesque especially at sunset the clouds made an appearance in Mumbai before Tauktae PicsUjwal PuriUjwal Puri MumbaiLast 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 IMDrsquos Twitter page While everyone stayed indoors Puri had to step out to document the extreme weather conditions ldquoThe 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 thoughrdquo 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 455k followers is peppered with beautiful but terrifying images of lightning streaks and ominous clouds Purirsquos interest in weather photography goes beyond that of an average Joe Therersquos a way to go about capturing weather phenomena he tells us ldquoFor 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 Itrsquos a dangerous activity because therersquos a possibility of getting electrocuted If yoursquore standing in an open space the tripod and the camera become good conductorsrdquo According to NASA data around 40 lightnings strike globally per second and more than 2000 thunderstorms happen simultaneously every day around the globe That said itrsquos 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 ldquoVenezuela 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 Irsquove stood for eight hours for a picture and went home without a worthy shotrdquo His prized shot is of lightning hitting the tip of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers and the Gateway of India at the same timeFollow ompsyram InstagramUjwal PurilsquoI travelled for Northern Lights but saw snow storms insteadrsquoIridescent 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 diffractedndashspread outndashcreating this rainbowlike effect in the clouds PicPranav VissanjiPranav Vissanji MumbaiIn 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 Earthrsquos atmosphere producing an ethereal display of coloured lights shimmering across the night sky ldquoIt 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 uprdquo What Vissanji got to witness instead were heavy snow storms ldquoPatience and luck are crucial elements in weather photography You can plan ahead and make estimates but ultimately you cannot control naturerdquo That said perseverance does pay off During a trip to the Andaman Islands Vissanji had gone deep sea diving when it started raining ldquoI 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 timerdquo Though driven and passionate about his work the 34yearold tries not to be a daredevil ldquoFoolhardiness to capture a shot can be dangerous There are some sessions that you just have to abort You can always chase another timerdquoFollow pvissanji InstagramPranav VissanjilsquoA close range tornado has evaded mersquoA supercell with tornado near Quanah Texas The thunderstorm is characterised by the presence of a mesocyclone a deep persistently rotating updraftTim Baca New MexicoIn 2017 when Tim Baca a New Mexicobased photographer drove to a nearby town with his mother ldquoto see a stormrdquo he was surprised to learn that they werenrsquot alone A swarm of photographers had descended on Tucumcari to capture the weather phenomenon ldquoIt seemed really exciting to me That May I got into a truck and drove out to Tornado Alley and jumped headfirst into itrdquoA magnificent sculpted supercell or a mesocyclone weather formation of thunderstorm clouds drifts across Sublette Kansas PicTim BacaBaca 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 Bacarsquos approach to weather photography is situational driven by what hersquos looking to photograph ldquoIf Irsquom 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 viewrdquo A classic supercell is a type of thunderstorm that develops in an environment where the upperlevel stormrelative winds are between4060 knotsTim BacaNeedless to say barrelling down country roads to capture the ldquomoney shotrdquo of a raging tornado is laden with risks ldquoIrsquod say the biggest is actually the amount of miles on the road Lightning extremely large hail and tornadoes are some of the more obvious onesrdquo he adds This year he was pummelled by over threeinch 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 ldquoFortunately it didnrsquot do any damage but could have been way worse if it was strongerrdquo 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 ldquoAt 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 beautyrdquo One shot thatrsquos evaded him so far is a closerange tornado ldquoThis season Irsquove witnessed more than 20 tornadoes butnone at the distance I would love to experiencerdquoFollow tim_baca_photography InstagramlsquoYou have a few secs to capture a microburstrsquoA full rainbow captured at Kalsubai the highest peak in Maharashtra at 5400 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 PicShrikant ShimpiShrikant Shimpi PuneItrsquos 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 ldquoContinuity is very important in weather photography My success ratio is 10100 Far too often Irsquove lugged to mountain tops only to be greeted by intense fog Therersquos no guarantee that Irsquoll get the same shot each time I gordquo 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 rainbowShrikant ShimpiWhile treacherous terrain often produces breathtaking pictures itrsquos hardly a cinch ldquoYou are carrying a minimum of 30 kg on your back which includes everything from your camera setup to food and water Therersquos no place to sleep and therersquos the danger of snakes and insectsrdquo In the Himalayas he has witnessed microburst a pattern of shortlived 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 ldquoYou literally have three seconds to capture this which is why itrsquos so important to be alert Itrsquos happened that Irsquom fumbling to find my camera and the moment has passed Now I keep my camera settings ready and the gadget is always around my neckrdquoFollow shrikantshimpi Instagram