"Vorticity" is a local measure of the tendency of a fluid to rotate. It serves as the perfect title for this six-minute time-lapse that was 20,000 miles and 60,000 frames in the making.
A frothing supercell is truly a sight to behold, particularly when it drops a tornado. Mike Olbinski spent 18 days chasing this vision, capturing 60,000 frames on the way to make this time-lapse. The end product is entrancing: shelf clouds roil across the horizon, scud clouds boil and dissolve, inflow jets streak across the sky, rain shafts drench the landscape, and tornadoes drop from the sky, the most striking being the Katie-Wynnewood tornado of May 9 this year, a violent EF-4 (the second highest rating) tornado shown at the end of the film.
Olbinski used a multitude of Canon gear to create the time-lapse, including the following:
- Canon 5DS R (He notes that the sharpness and resolution of the camera gave him great cropping abilities in post.)
- Canon 5D Mark III
- EF 11-24mm f/4L
- EF 35mm f/1.4L II
- EF 50mm F/1.2L
- EF 135 f/2L
Chasing storms is exhausting work:
My typical routine would be to leave Phoenix sometime in late afternoon, drive all night, sleep an hour or two in the truck, and then chase the next few days. And then drive home all night again. I did whatever I could to minimize the time away from my family. Heck, I once even shot a wedding all day, left the venue, and drove all night to chase. I didn't want to miss anything this spring.
The results were well worth the struggle, however. "Vorticity" is a gorgeous and stunning achievement.
[via PetaPixel]
