Photographer chased storms for 18 days over 20,000 miles to make this epic timelapse

The amount of ridiculously good timelapses coming out this year that are putting the rest of us to shame is just getting crazy. Still, we can’t help but watch in awe and admire.

In Mike Olbinski’s 6 minute video, Vorticity, we’re taken on a whirlwind journey (quite literally) covering 18 days of storm chasing, 20,000 miles through nine states, to produce some of the most incredible weather timelapse footage.

Just the whole “chasing storms” bit is a lot more than most people want to handle, and that’s before they’ve even begun to think about things trying to predict which way the weather’s moving or what camera settings to use.

Of course, Mike’s also a wedding photographer, so he’s used to potentially volatile situations, thinking quickly and planning ahead.

The Wynnewood tornado, which you will see at the very end of the film, was one of the most surreal moments of my life. I was so focused on keeping up with the storm that day, that I barely realized that I had captured what I’d been working so hard to get. I texted my wife a few photos and simply said “Baby I did it”. It wasn’t until she responded “Babe, it’s beautiful. I’m so happy for you” that I completely lost it – live stream going on in the truck, people watching, and tears streaming down my face.

– Mike Olbinski

You can tell Mike’s passionate about extreme weather purely from reading the video’s description on Vimeo, but you can also see it in the footage. It takes a lot to stare mother nature in the face at such close quarters and record it for the rest of us.

With the amount of quality timelapses coming out this year, I have a feeling that its time has only really just begun as a genre. The bar definitely seems to be getting raised on a regular basis, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the future holds.

Which has been your favourite timelapse so far this year? What’s your favourite of all time? Let us know in the comments.

[via Vimeo]