CHANGES YOU WILL MAKE FOR NEXT SEASON

I wouldn't mind spending more time away from home, I dont neccesarilly mean chase more events, as I actually have been chasing everything it seems, but instead of the marathon Chases where you spend all day and then night on the road arriving home at 2am only to do it again 2 days later, I would like to stay out if things look promising in the coming days, position for that and check out some of that areas attractions. I should have a flexible schedule that I can dedicate to chasing, besides on the days I have tests during the spring I will have all spring and then all of May and June, now I just need to start saving!!
 
I am going to drive more slowly this year, especially in the vicinity of good storm activity. On 3/1/07 I missed filming an amazing 'barrel-rolling" action, the best rotation around a horizontal axis I have ever seen, because I was driving at about 60mph as the storm crossed my past SW to NE doing about 50mph. The vid capture I got only shows a side view, missing the vertical doughnut. If I'd been doing 45, I could have stopped and gotten the image.

There have been a few other instances where I overran a good view by driving to fast.

In Alabama, there are rarely other chasers out and about--spotters are more frequently seen--so we don't have the CB traffic jams of tornado alley. Slower driving hopefully won't cause a chaser parade here.
 
first off, id like to begin by saying that this is a great thread, jason...

im not sure exactly what i want to do right now...this will be my third year in this game, and im going to start taking the whole, filming-chasing-editing-producing thing a LOT more seriously...

the first two years ive got me a couple decent still pictures, and a few video clips...but everything generally is low-quality, and un-salable...if watchable...i was alot younger, and i made alot of mistakes, but hey...you gotta mess up a couple times in order to recognize, and see where you messed up, and then go back the second time...working to prevent the same mistakes again...

a big thing for me this year...

i bought a truck, and it needs some minor work...but im gonna start working with my own vehicle (something new) and get it equiped with some things...

i plan on working towards my ham radio liscense sometime this year...learned a whole lot about radio in these books and online guides, but to be honest with you...its really not my bag...

i never got around to taking the test, but i think im just gonna get it over with before next spring...in addition to that, im gonna put in some radios, and whatnot...

one of the biggest things i learned this year is how much information plays a role in the chase...this year, i implemented libraries as an operational part of the chase...i had a road map, and marked all the libraries in the area with their phone number and hours of buisiness...we would go town-to-town, and eventually ween our way towards the warned areas...

im hoping on purchasing a lower-priced HP laptop, and a at&t wireless card...i noticed the prices have really come down over the past two years, and the performance has come up...ive also looked into firewire jacks that go into your PCMIA slot, and that would let me get the material out the door right after i shoot it...

back to the major defining difference this year will be to the previous years...like i said, im going to take this alot more seriously...im thinkin along these lines...you need to invest in your things...you get what you pay for...if i end up cutting corners on the quality of the cameras, then ill likely end up with cut-corners on the finished product...ive got my heart set on one of those PROLINE mini-dv cameras, its under 2-grand and ive seen alot of chasers and free-lance videographers using them before...

i want all my shots to be high-quality and tripoded, with minimal if any voice in the backround...

i have a whole lot of things i want to try this year, but personally...this is something really important in my life, like trying to start a small buisiness or something...its all about how you start, and your portfolio, and your buisiness image...

yeah, i know that the market for severe storm video is not there, but hell...ive been doing it for 2 years, and aint got one red-penny...and if i dont see a dime...that will be straight too...

the way i see it...all the old heads didnt get there over-night...if i do it straight, honest and respectable...with GOOD IMAGE, then i might be able to contribute something decent to the chasing community...

the key being IMAGE...a professionally designed website, and buisiness face...with something like that, hell...who knows what might happen...

the possibilities are endless!
 
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Da$n David! I would definitely take them to civil court on principle (only costs about 50$ to get things rollin, in my area at least).

As for some changes I will make for next year:

1. New laptop and cell internet aircard
2. New camcorder
3. New digital camera
4. Will purchase a GPS unit finally (although I do like my atlas:D)
5. Save more $$
6. Will purchase an mountable anemometer for my car (tired of getting soaked)

Working 12hr days to pay the bills and get the above items done but I'm sure it will be worth it :D
 
The biggest change I will be making in '08 is learning to schedule my chases around 10 days of vacation time. I just started my first full-time, salary job. I won't be able to take all 10 days in May either as I've just started accruing the time at 6.67 hours per month. What I've lost in scheduling freedom though is made up for in financial freedom. I can afford to chase the distance now, and buy some new gadgets. Seeing that I only made it out there 11 times this year, I think I should be good with my vacation time. After 15 years, I'll have 20 days. I could spend the entire month of May driving around Kansas, living out of the van. In the meantime... chase hard on the weekends!
 
My biggest change will have to come with scheduling. I was not able to get out to the plains this year because of a job and lack of funds. With a lack of a severe weather season in my region it was also hard to chase locally, so with that I am disappointed. I know a few chasers around Chicago and maybe I can contact some of them so we all go as one and split costs. Until I finish my degree and get a well paying job; I won't have the funds to take 3 days off myself and leave. The way I figure though is get your schooling done, because thats most important thing and storms aren't going anywhere. But whenever that 08 chasing thread is started I will mention that. I would say money is the main issue i plan to take care of as the technology and willingness to be there is there.
 
1) Continue to study. I've entered the world of forecasting with this past season, just need to get smarter with it. I gained a lot this year, learned how the game was played, basically. (you know, being able to read stormtrack and understanding what everyone is talking about... most of the time ;) )

Now I have to get good at it. Another big focus will be studying storm dynamics. Don't have much first hand experience with this as I haven't hit many big ones... yet. I want to be poised and intelligent once I do hit the 'big one.'

2) Get out to the southern plains for the first time in my chasing career. Nebraska has been the only plains state I've visited.

3) Get a better data solution. My tethered option connected over a dial-up connection and I wasn't pleased with the speed. Downloading radar data took too long and wasn't consistent enough.
 
Sorry to hear about your Car wash experience and the breaking of the anemometer David. Also sucks to hear that they didn't fix it for ya.

As for my plans to better my 2008 weather photography season I have several ideas.

1. New DSLR Camera, Aimed for Lightning exposures and quality results (any suggestions send to my PM)

2. Save some money and then Plan on Chasing in the great plains, maybe find another person with experience in the plains and split costs.

3. Do more video recording. I spent my entire 2007 season with still photography mainly at night and don't have any video to show, But there wasn't really anything impressive enough anyways, but I am aiming at increasing my video page.

4. Learn more about models and other methods of "ways to plan a chase" or "ways to plan for a storm" such as timing, location, intensity, etc. Staring at SPC products and graphical forecasts only does so much for myself and my knowledge. Maybe start a thread to see how everyone puts all the information together for there chase plans. Or go to school. =)

None the less, I hope for a more active 2008 spring and summer season then the Spring Summer 2007 season. Only about 4 severe storms as far as I remember. last year was better and hopefully next year will be great.

-gerrit
 
My changes are to chase MORE. To many times i wait until I KNOW something is most likely going to happen, then I'm to far away to get there, and stay home, complain how i SHOULD have went, and wish I did.

Get better radar in my car than I have. I have it on my cell phone, and my laptop, but I'm buying a doppler radar connection that mounts right on my dashboard, next to my GPS. I've solved the 8 plug-ins to my cigarette lighter thing.

I've also bought a digital camcorder that tapes right to dvd, along with my regular digital camcorder, so now i can feed the tape within 10 seconds to anybody online, which will be cool when I get my website up and running. I'll be taping it (remotely) straight to my laptop and feeding it out almost simultaneously.

The last thing I'll change is trying my BEST to NOT go alone anymore. Two people can do twice as much...laptop, filming, ideas and descisions, etc etc etc.
 
I am gonna get another laptop. I need a permanent one in the vehicle, so when im chasing, and go into hotel at night, dont have to unhook everything. Also, looking for wireless data card, rather than tether the cell.

Next, I want to hook up with some chase partners and head west.. Go to the plains..

Money Money Money.. :D
 
Im a new chaser, my first chase will be sometime this spring. Is there like a "starter kit" i need to have to go chasing?

Things I have

My new camera, a Canon PowerShot S5 IS
tripod
my car
instincts
what i have learned
Me.

I want a dashboard mount for my camera, but im pretty creative. Im sure i could come up with something (suction cups?) On my old camera, i used sticky-tac. But the camera i have now is very nice, i dont want to subject it to that kind of thing. I have been messing around with a few ideas that might work. I have an adjustable tripod, so i was able to actually set it up in my car (2 legs on the floor, and 1 wedged in between the 2 front seats). It worked, but wasnt very practical. Im just trying different ideas. Besides actually going out and bying a mount, anyone have any ideas on what might work?
 
Is this for a camera or camcorder? If its a camera why would you want a dash mount (maybe a window mount)? If its for a camcorder your best off spending the money to buy a sturdy stable one or else your video is going to be shaky and worthless. For a camera these are decent I bought a similar one a while back at a gun show to use with my Canon XTi it works well when I remember to use it, especially handy for night time lightning. http://cgi.ebay.com/CAR-WINDOW-MOUN...ryZ31711QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
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Montana and North Dakota are both a long, long way from TX/OK.. best if we skip these states next time! -Especially after the bust we had in ND.
Otherwise that i'm not sure.. anyone know of any discount cards or loyalty programs with places like Comfort Inn/Super8? Going there every night for 20+ nights can start putting some quick debt on your CC and would rather spend more on other things.

More Taco Bell/Johns... it's the one thing we regret not going to more often since coming home, lol.
 
In my case, there likely won't be any major changes next year. I was fortunate enough to spend most of my money on new gear and such this season, so fortunately, that's out of the way and I can go into the season pretty much stocked with goodies.

I guess time will be my biggest change; I'm not longer a full-time student as my class load is down to four total which due to scheduling combined with prereqs will require three semesters; so two of my classes will be in the Spring; then I have one of my last two remaining classes in both the Fall and following Spring. That means a much easier time for me to do early season chasing.

The summer, I'll be working for the station full time and will probably take the entire summer away from campus which will allow me to chase pretty much full time in the summer much like I did this year. The only real change is I'm already planning the entire summer that way as opposed to last year where that "perk" kind of fell into place midway through the season.

Otherwise, pretty much the same; "White Lightning", GR, the usual. Perhaps a change in mascot if I so elect AND lastly, I did replace my a newer, more cleaned up version of my beloved Redskins jersey. The original #81 has been retire after three seasons.
 
I will buy another tripod...Mesocyclone inflow can reach hurricane speed and my canon eos 300D is already fallen down one time,'cause of it, and it is sufficient.
 
1. New Camera body.
2. Stop shooting video.
3. Read up more on forecasting.
4. Work more. (maybe a new job with as few hours as I get now)
5. Post less on here.
6. Find a winter activity to do, instead of watching models 3,400,500 hours out.
7. Choose days more wisely.
8. Save money and try to get morning classes.
9. Not miss a single class until April.
10. Study more on photography and post-processing techniques this Winter.
 
Good sound ideas Dick...especially the one about choosing chase days more wisely. It's so hard not to take the bait in March and then end up wasting those valuable days which should have been saved for later in May & June when those REAL good events start popping up.
 
Brian Stertz said:
Good sound ideas Dick...especially the one about choosing chase days more wisely. It's so hard not to take the bait in March and then end up wasting those valuable days which should have been saved for later in May & June when those REAL good events start popping up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I say that now, but in late February or March, when that first setup shows up on the models, I'll be itching to chase, which, I'm sure will bust for me. Wouldn't mind a true cold-core setup between now and then. Heck, Scott Currens saw a tornado in January of 06' in KS with maybe 200 j/kg CAPE to deal with, it's possible!
 
Something I'll be changing is rethinking one of my vantage points, and realizing its full potential of danger. On Sept 3 2007 I did something really stupid. I got caught up on the Promontory, the cliff edge summit of the Colorado Plateau in Arizona, during the 2nd most violent lightning storm I have experienced in my 10 years of chasing (Plains included). I pushed my luck way past the point of (box of hammers) on that chase and escaped with my skin pretty much due to nature's mercy. It's hard to describe in words. I had no business being up there. No radar access up there, but I did see the loop later. My storm was a round burgundy Pepperoni slice right over the edge of the Mogollon Rim's Promontory. Inside the storm, there was stuff that humans probably shouldn't be seeing, lightning so close, making a grotesque hiss and exploding like green bombs in my face. Thunder was a deafening drumbeat that would never stop. The whole experience was incredible, but so exhausting, have you ever had so much adrenaline pumping that you get tears in your eyes in kind of a weird way? And you feel like you're way past overdrive? I couldn't believe it...the Rim is capable of such violence, beyond what I had previously seen. Being on the Promontory in an electrical storm of that strength, chasing alone at 3am dealing with the hydroplaning on 8% grades and blinding CG constant afterimages in eyeballs...and there is no refuge anywhere...can't go forward, can't go back, what do you do with it? Next time I will rethink the Promontory bigtime if I see certain conditions setting up. I have been rewarded up there, with lightning pictures under full moon and aspen trees. Yes there is lightning, this is Arizona. But in the future I will handle the Promontory with extra kid gloves. Wow.
 
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