The video is Priority one!

[Kem Poyner]

Last night I was going through 15 years of stormchase videos. I am transfering my archive highlights to DVD's. As I was watching old (and recent) footage, it was painfully obvious that "the shot" was second place to having a good time. Sometimes the tornado drifts out of the video for extended times. Sometimes the camera was not set to infinity, and goes in and out as it tries to focus on a raindrop or piece of dirt. Sometimes I hear voices of past chase partners whom I did not get any shots of...two have passed on and I would give anything to see that laugh that now I can only hear. Having a great time is why we chase, but memories fade and can be relived and shared if you capture it on tape. When a situation gets crazy, its so easy for the brain to slow down and make poor decisons...such as recordind your own shoes instead of a huge gustnado that spins up and crosses the road 30 yards infront of where you are standing..or hitting the power button instead of record..and the famous, pause when you think you are recording and recording when you think you are pausing.
Do not make my mistakes. Know your equipment inside and out before you use it, and when all hell suddenly breaks loose..take a deep breath, re-focus and record!!

 

[Danny Neal]

I see where you are coming from.....as many times I have been in situations where if I panned just a little to the right I would be in heaven. But when _____ hits the fan the last thing I am thinking about is my video lol. #1 priority is safety of my own, #2 safety of others, #3 video. At least for me. To each their own! I do theoretically agree with you though, when you are in a relaxed state and comfortable distance away I would have to say GET THE SHOT!!!!!!

 

[Terry Tyler]

I know just what you guys are saying. I dont have any kind of video recording equipment right now, just a DSLR but let me tell you that thing can be difficult in a situation where things get crazy.

12/9/08 was a perfect example of where i blew several shots, probably the best pictures of the day. In a situation where you have to take that perfect shot, and its a matter of split seconds. Trying to manually focus and set everything up is just not possible. Your hands shake, and you roll the lever and mash the buttons. Take the shot, and youve blurred your subject all the way across the image sensor. Either that, or you didnt set your f-stop/shutter speed correctly and you get a solid white or solid black picture.

I am fascinated with severe storms, not photography. Half the time i leave my camera on auto and just hope i dont get into a situation where i have to try to manually adjust it. This is definatly a good thread topic. I find it very scary sometimes the lack of control i have in a situation like that. After all the time ive spent practicing on that piece of equipment. In the heat of the moment, everything moves so fast and i simply cannot focus on what im doing. Sometimes, the moment can completely dominate you and mess up what you could have taken away from it.

 

[Kem Poyner]

the shot

Newsweek did a story on this very topic awhile back. It was a study they conducted to see how people reacted in life-threatening situations. The brain goes into overload and basically shuts down the ability to make descisions.
For instance on 911 after the planes hit the towers, interviewed survivers claimed that most everyone walked in frantic circles around desks not knowing what to do. Stairwells were empty for almost three minutes as people collected their thoughts. Brains were over stimulated and could not make life saving decisions.
I realize 911 does not compare to filming storms, but the over stimulation part, it explains what my brain does from time to time.

 

[Jeff Richardson]

It's very easy for even the most seasoned chaser to have a major league "blond moment" when the action gets heated up out in the field. To me, that's just normal human behavior. What has helped me in years past is to know my equipment inside and out. I've used the same Canon AE-1 for 30 years so changing lenses, film, adjusting f-stops/shutter speeds, etc. is just second nature...most of the time...lol. I've even practiced changing lenses or finding just the right filter in short order. Also gone to the trouble of familiarizing myself well with my two camcorders. If you can handle your cameras with your eyes closed, you're doing pretty good. But, like others, I've had my moments when the excitement of the situation got in the way of good video and photography. I've also learned to use tripods or some sort of way to steady my camcorders to reduce the "shake"...and with adrenaline flowing, that's often from my own hands. Can't relive those moments, just learn from them and keep safety as the #1 priority. Just my two cents. :-D

 

[Billy Griffin]

How many, like me, have left the darn camera recording and then - when you have that once in a lifetime shot, you hit the 'record button,' only to realize later that you actually 'paused' it and missed the whole damn thing ???

I've done this more than once sad to say. One time, I'm one the phone with a major TV network telling them how great this event was and what amazing footage I was capturing, then after driving two hours out of my way to deliver and play back the footage for them........ hee-haw - what an ass!

Like others have advised above, just calm down, enjoy the moment, take a deep breath, double then triple check everything, and record the moment so it will last a lifetime!

Always check the viewfinder to ensure the camera is doing what you want it to do!

 

[Chris Lott]

I hate videos that I see of a huge tornado on the ground, with someone in the background screaming "oh my god, oh my god, tornado on the ground, a huge, oh my god, tornado, god, on the ground." That just ruins it for me.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I'm trying to automate as much of the process as possible so that I can spend more time enjoying the chase, rather than fiddling with equipment. I've got my data card plugged into a wifi router, which should take most of the hassle out of maintaining a data connection. I'm also mounting my video camera and letting the computer control it with some custom software. That should take much of the human error out of steadying and turning on the camera. Catching a great storm is #1 for me, and while getting the shot is part of that, its a secondary objective.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

The thing that's been killing me (with still photography) is tripods. A lot of the time, I don't have proper time to set up a tripod, and a tripod is occasionally required for the best shot. I find myself reluctantly flipping to 800ISO and clicking off a ton of photos in the hope that one of them won't be motion blurred. Not the optimal method by a long shot.

 

[John Olexa]

The thing that's been killing me (with still photography) is tripods. A lot of the time, I don't have proper time to set up a tripod, and a tripod is occasionally required for the best shot. I find myself reluctantly flipping to 800ISO and clicking off a ton of photos in the hope that one of them won't be motion blurred. Not the optimal method by a long shot.

Ryan ,have you looked in to getting a good monopod ? They have worked great for me. One monopod + 2 feet spread make a pretty good tripod

 

[Jason Young]

Well while the Lone Grove tornado , I hit the record button to many times and got no video of it . It was all I could do talking on the ham , the cell phone and miss all the power line's . That is why I am looking for a chase partner .

 

[Jerry Funfsinn]

It was all I could do talking on the ham , the cell phone and miss all the power line's .

From the day I started chasing regularly the drill bit went through the dashboard and a video mount was created. This frees up my attention to more pressing things. Although I have missed some significant tornadoes by hitting the pause button instead of record, thus the sticky on the dashboard that states- "ARE YOU RECORDING?"

 

[Dan Robinson]

You have to train yourself to always be looking for the red 'record' light in the viewfinder. I'm constantly checking it even after I know I've started recording.

 

[Kem Poyner]

They should make a feature on video cameras that actually speak instead of beep. When you push the red button to start filming...it will "SAY" recording...push the button again it will "SAY" paused. The voice would be just before tape rolls ,then again right after tape stops...that way no voice will show up on your video. Heck, everything else in the car talks to us now.

 

[Stephen Levine]

Grabbing it, vs a "big fish story"

Excellent thread; I appreciate all your thoughts and sharings.
I've had my share of frustrations during the peak of the peak experience.

On one of my tours, I missed filming a tornado, because the brand new camera battery did not work unbeknownst to me, and I had no replacement battery. On another, I missed filming a tornado dropping to the ground w/in a mile of me, because in my excitement, I opened the back of my 35 mm camera before unwinding the film, thereby ruining several pictures. Meanwhile, the passenger with the active videocam in his excitement reversed the record and pause buttons, so that there was lots of hand clapping and excited voices as the viewer views a splendid gravel road and nothing but darkness otherwise.

Then there have been times I did no filming whatsoever, for my one and only priority was to keep my eyes and remaining senses on the sky and make sure we were all safe.