Before you begin, however, you need to figure out the point-of-view you from which you will tell your story. Will it be first person from the one of your characters’ points of view? Or perhaps you prefer to tell it through the third person as an ousider. There are plenty of viewpoints you can use to tell your story. Regardless of what you pick, your decision will influence all elements your story.

Use Freytag’s Pyramid to Write Better Story Elements

Freytag’s Pyramid is a five-part dramatic structure showing the elements and flow of a story. It’s the brain child of 19th century playwright Gustav Freytag. He theorized that there are five key stages of a story that are used to conceptualize or write an engaging story from start to finish.

Below, we’ll go over each stage of Freytag’s Pyramid in detail. I’ll also share some real-world examples of Freytag’s Pyramid in action. Finally, we’ll use the example of climbing a mountain as the perfect metaphor to demonstrate Freytag’s Pyramid.

1. The Protagonist

One of the most important elements in your story, the protagonist is the main character, or good guy in your story. They’re the one who will be going on the journey that your story tells. While many stories have just a single protagonist, yours certainly doesn’t have to. You can have multiple protagonists, or a group of people that function as a single protagonist. For example, if you were telling the story of a trip you took with a tour group, the group would essentially function as a single protagonist.

In the context of travel stories, you (the traveler) are nearly always the protagonist. And since traveling is literally going on a journey, you should be able to pretty easily identify the parts of your journey and how they relate to the parts of stories we’ll cover below.

Interestingly, there is one notable exception, which you’ll find if you’re traveling for a cause, such as to do volunteer work. In that case, the protagonist is often the people or group that you’re helping with your volunteer work. However, you shouldn’t overlook the fact that volunteer work can have a profound impact on the volunteers as well. In that case, I encourage you to include yourself as a protagonist and share your side of the story. On the other hand, you can also re-tell the same story from your point of view. That can be a very powerful way to raise awareness to causes you’re passionate about back home.

2. The Antagonist

Sometimes referred to as the ”anti-protagonist”, the antagonist is the bad guy in your story. The antagonist actively opposes and provides resistance to your protagonist on their journey. One of the most famous protagonist/antagonist pairs is Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Star Wars series.

In many stories, the antagonist is a person or a group of people. However, the antagonist can be anything that stands in the way of the protagonist accomplishing their goal. This is particularly true for telling stories about travel.

But Wait…Travel Stories Don’t Usually Have Clear Cut Good Guys and Bad Guys the Way Star Wars Does. How Do You Identify the Antagonist in Your Travel Stories?

Good question! For travel stories, antagonists don’t always take the traditional forms that they do in many Hollywood movies, or even in the world of news or sports. In fact, in some contexts, the antagonist can be one of the more difficult elements of your story to identify. Take solo travel as an example. You’re just out documenting your adventures, and having a blast doing it. How can there possibly be bad guys when you’re having so much fun?

It turns out that you’re right, in that there are physically no bad people getting in the way of you having fun. Instead, the antagonist takes on different forms. Often times, the travel itself – the act of going from Point A to Point B – is the antagonist. Here are just a few examples of possible sources of resistance, or antagonists, you may encounter while traveling.

• Traffic Jams
• Border Crossings
• Language Barriers
• Natural Barriers such as Mountains or Rivers
• Bad Weather
• Vehicle Breakdowns
• Missed Buses, Trains, or Flights

Interestingly, if you’re traveling for a cause and/or doing volunteer work, the antagonist is the hardship of the group you’re helping out. Some examples include poverty, hunger, war, disease, natural disasters, and much more.

3. A Conflict

We’ve all heard it a million times. Every story needs a conflict. You can’t have a story without one. Yes, it needs to be said. And no, I won’t beat that dead horse any more than I already have.

The conflict is where the protagonist and antagonist cross paths in your story. Remember, each side has opposite goals, so there is a natural conflict there. Your story can have a single conflict, or it can be comprised of a series of conflicts. That’s completely up to you.

How to Identify Conflicts in Your Travel Stories

Like antagonists, conflicts in travel stories don’t always come to life in traditional ways. Indeed, it’s no surprise that so many travel bloggers, photographers, and video storytellers struggle to find conflict in their story. It turns out that you may need to dig down to find the conflict, but it’s there.

If you’re having trouble identifying the conflict in your travel story, go back and re-read the previous section about the antagonist. Look at the bulleted list of examples of antagonists in travel stories and see if you can identify them in your story. Once you know who or what your antagonists are, finding your conflict is easy. Any time you run into or have direct interaction with those antagonists is where your conflict occurs.

Don’t Forget to Provide a Hook for Your Audience

Have you ever binge-watched a show on Netflix? I know I have. And do you know what makes a show bingeworthy? The hook. It’s one of the most critically important elements of your story. Bingeworthy shows are incredibly good at ”hooking” the audience in, leaving them not just wanting to see what happens in the next episode, but craving it. And introducing conflict is one of the best ways to ”hook” your audience.

The best audience hooks usually take the form of teasers, plot twists, secrets, and cliffhangers. Go back and watch one of the shows you’ve binge-watched in the past. Pay particular attention to how they end each episode. They often introduce a new conflict without providing any idea of how it will be resolved. And do you know when they’ll resolve it? In the next episode. That’s how they keep bringing their audience back. And you should try to do the same thing when you tell your stories. At the very least, it will make the story more engaging, dramatic, and gripping.

Finally, you should introduce the first three elements we discussed here (the first or primary protagonist, antagonist, and conflict) before your main character even sets off on their journey. Giving your audience the proper background to the context of your story will better engage them, and keep them coming back for more.

4. Rising Action

As soon as your protagonist sets off on their journey, the rising action begins. Throughout the rising action, each step of the protagonist’s journey should put them into more and more direct contact with the antagonist, as well as the conflict. As a result, there is an increasing escalation each step of the journey. By the end of the rising action, there should be a dramatic build-up to the climax. But don’t reveal too much. You don’t want to give anything away before the climax. Use powerful words, vivid imagery, and/or dramatic music in your final build-up to the climax.

Climbing a mountain is the perfect metaphor for the rising action. Your journey up the mountain starts out pretty easily. The weather’s nice, the terrain isn’t steep, and you feel good and fresh. As you make your way up the mountain, though, conditions begin to change. Not only does the terrain get steeper, but the weather starts to turn. Winds pick up and temperatures start to drop. Furthermore, there is less air to breathe at higher elevations, tiring you out that much quicker.

The most difficult part of the ascent is the final push to the summit. The terrain is treacherous, making for slow progress. Icy winds and heavy snow only compound the problem. Finally, the rarified air leaves you gasping for breath every step. But you keep pushing forward because you know there is an incredible reward at the summit. That’s exactly how the final build-up to the climax of your story should work.

Short Example of a Rising Action in Action

In the short video below, you’ll find an announcement video I made for the next chapter of my life and business. In the first 30 seconds of the clip, I go over my history and accomplishments as a still photographer. At the end of that rising action, you’ll see a build-up to the big reveal that I’m adding video to my arsenal of visual storytelling. Take special note of the music, imagery, and words being used. Notice how the tension and drama builds up a lot quicker right before the reveal than it does at the beginning.

5. Climax

This is the moment everyone’s been waiting for, and the most exciting of your story elements. Tension is high coming out of your rising action as the audience sits on the edge of their seats, eagerly waiting to see what happens. Then you make the big reveal.

The climax is the most pivotal and exciting part of the story. It’s the moment you reveal the resolution to your protagonist’s conflict. As the action of the story transitions towards the conclusion, you transition from the rising action to the falling action. You don’t want the climax right at the beginning of your story, but it can go anywhere in the middle or towards the end.

You should maximize tension, drama and emotion at the end of the rising action right before you reveal the resolution to the conflict. As a result, use your most vivid imagery and most powerful language to show your story’s climax. But your story isn’t quite over, yet. You’ll likely still have some loose ends to tie up, which you’ll take care of in the next section.

Going back to the metaphor of climbing a mountain, the climax occurs when you reach the summit. You can finally exhale, take a break, and soak in the spectacular views. It’s a well-earned reward after a grueling hike up the mountain. However, you shouldn’t relax too much. Your journey is only half-way done because you still have to get back down the mountain.

6. Dénouement or Falling Action

Now that you’ve unveiled the resolution of your story, it’s time to tie up those loose ends left over from the climax. Ironically, the word dénouement literally translates from French as ”the untying of the knot.” However, the context of dénouement refers to the conflict as a knot that you’re untying. Don’t confuse it with the fact that you’re also tying up loose ends in your story.

In addition to tying up loose ends, the dénouement should also begin to establish the main characters’ new normal. Reveal any last secrets or fates that were left over from the climax. The dénouement should not just end the story. It should validate it.

Unlike the rising action, tension, drama, and emotion should drop throughout the course of the dénouement, opposite to how it rose throughout the rising action. Using the mountain climbing metaphor, the dénouement is the descent back down the mountain after you summit. Just like the final push to the summit is the hardest part of the ascent, the first part of the descent is the hardest part of the way down. The descent gets easier as the further down you get. The terrain gets less difficult, the weather gets warmer, and there’s more air to breathe as you drop in elevation.

Finally, if you’re planning anything further, such as another chapter, episode, or sequel, plant the hook to that next segment at the end of the dénouement. Leave your audience quenching to come back and see what happens next.

7. The Characters’ Lives After This Journey

While many storytellers end their stories after the dénouement, I prefer to have one extra element, especially if there will not be any further chapters, episodes, or sequels. In this section, we dive in and fully immerse ourselves in the protagonist’s new day-to-day life. Bring the story full-circle and show your protagonist’s new normal and how the journey changed them.

• Did they learn a lesson from the experience?
• Do they have a new outlook on life? Why or why not?
• How else have they changed? What else are they doing differently?
• What, if anything, of relevance lies ahead for them?

Conclusion

Following Freytag’s Pyramid is one of the easiest and most effective ways to tell a story that engages, hooks, and even grips your audience. Without those elements, you really don’t have a story to tell. Storytelling is an art form, and it’s not uncommon to struggle with it, especially when you’re first starting out. But just remember, while telling is literally in the word storytelling, you want to show your audience, not tell them. And once you master the art of storytelling, it’s amazing the doors it will open for you.

Top Image: A Snow-Packed Road en Route to Grand Canyon
Flagstaff, Arizona – January, 2017

The post How to Use Freytag’s Pyramid Elements to Tell an Engaging, Gripping Story appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

An Introduction to the Lightroom Map Area

Adobe Lightroom comes with a really nice map interface to browse, explore, and view your photos. Unfortunately, if your photos aren’t geotagged, the feature is worthless.

Lightroom’s map feature lets you browse, explore, and view your photos and videos on an interactive map. You can also easily edit and geotag your photos from the map, as well as create collections, tag keywords, and much more.

Are You One of the Many Travel Photographers Struggling to Geotag Your Photos in Lightroom Without a Built-in GPS?

If your photos and videos are already geotagged when you import them into Lightroom, the map gets set up automatically. However, many cameras still don’t have built-in GPS. You can buy a GPS adaptor to mount to the top of your camera, but they come with plenty of drawbacks. First, with a GPS mounted to the top of your camera, you won’t be able to mount a flash or a mic there. And what if you have multiple cameras? At $200-300 a pop, the cost of outfitting each camera with a GPS unit can snowball out of control incredibly fast.

Alternatively, you can use a smartphone app that your camera manufacturer makes. When you snap a picture, the app uses the GPS in your phone to record the location and sends it to your camera over bluetooth. While I have not used these apps much, be aware that smartphones usually disable the GPS when it’s not actively in use to conserve battery. Unfortunately, if you phone’s GPS goes into standby or sleep mode during a photo shoot, it will often send the last location the GPS registered, which may not necessarily be your current location. As a result, many people have complained that these apps are not accurate or reliable for geotagging photos and videos.

So where do you go from here? This is where my method comes in. This method is by no means anything bleeding edge or earth-shattering. In fact, a quick Google search will reveal that it’s widely used throughout the photography and filmmaking industries. And best of all, it only requires one GPS regardless of how many cameras you have. However, there are still a few places it can trip you up. As a result, I want to use my background in GIS and data science to make sure that you fully understand both what the data is and what you’re doing with it. You unfortunately won’t find that in many other tutorials.

How to Use Handheld GPS (or Smartphone) to Geotag Your Photos and Videos in Adobe Lightroom

The strategy to geotag photos in Adobe Lightroom without a built-in GPS is staggeringly simple. While you’re out on your photo or video shoot, use a handheld GPS to record your movement. Then, in post-production match the timestamp on the GPS track to the timestamp on your camera to get the latitude and longitude coordinates for the geotag. Once you add the latitude and longitude to the metadata, Lightroom will automatically look up and add the city, state/province, and country that correspond to those coordinates.

Software You’ll Need

The only software you need to geotag your photos without a built-in GPS is Adobe Lightroom itself. Additionally, depending on what GPS and computer models you’re using, you may need additional software to pull the track off the GPS. If you have a Garmin GPS, don’t worry. All of their software is available free of charge. For example, my handheld GPS uses Garmin’s Basecamp software to offload the track data. On the other hand, the GPS I use in the car mounts like an external hard drive, so I can copy the track to my local disk using the Finder or File Explorer.

The track files you pull off your GPS are stored in GPS Exchange, or GPX format. GPX is an open source, non-proprietary file that stores GPS data for software applications. Data is stored in XML format, which is light-weight and usable in both desktop and web-based applications. In addition to latitude/longitude coordinates and timestamps, GPX files can also store speed, elevation, waypoints, routes, points of interest, and much more.

You can view GPX files in numerous desktop and web-based applications, ranging from Google Maps to QGIS and ArcMap to even the Matt Gove Photo maps. However, for the purpose of geotagging photos, the easiest application to view your GPX files is actually Lightroom. You can preview your track right in the Lightroom map before you geotag your photos.

Sync the Clocks on Your GPS and Camera Before You Head Out in the Field

Before you head out for your shoot, your single most important task is to sync the clocks between your handheld GPS and each camera you’ll be using. If the clocks are not synced, your photos and videos will not be geotagged in the correct location.

If your travels keep you confined to a single time zone, feel free to sync everything to your local time zone. However, if your travels take you across multiple time zones, you should sync all of your devices to UTC. Also called Zulu Time, UTC is the modern standard that the world uses to regulate time. It differs from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), as GMT is based on the Earth’s rotation, while the more accurate UTC is based on the atomic measurements.

If your camera or GPS does not offer UTC as a time zone, set it to London (make sure daylight savings is off) or Iceland. In addition, Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is on UTC year-round.

Once you get out in the field where you’ll be shooting, simply turn on your handheld GPS and throw it in your bag, or put it somewhere that will be out of the way, but with you all day. Make sure the batteries are all charged at the beginning of the day. Finally, don’t forget to carry a spare set of batteries if you’re expecting a lengthy shoot.

Add Location Data in Post-Production in Adobe Lightroom

Now that your shoot is finished, it’s time to geotag your photos and videos in Lightroom. Before we get started, though, there’s another important note about time zones that if not done correctly, will result in your photos not being geotagged correctly.

A Word of Caution About Time Zones in GPX Data vs EXIF Camera Metadata

If you’ve synced your GPS and cameras to UTC, be aware of the difference in how GPX files handle time zones vs the camera’s EXIF metadata. GPX files have the time zone embedded in them. EXIF metadata records the time in the time zone that your camera is set to, but does not actually record the time zone itself in the metadata. In other words, the GPX file sees the time stamp as “2022-04-11 15:21 UTC”, while the EXIF metadata in the camera only sees “2022-04-11 15:21”.

Why is this important, you ask? Because when you offload the GPX file to your computer, your computer automatically converts its timestamp back to local time. For example, let’s say I’m on the east coast of the US, which is 4 hours behind UTC. The computer all of a sudden now sees the GPX timestamp as “2022-04-11 11:21 EDT”, while it still sees the EXIF metadata as “2022-04-11 15:21” (which it incorrectly assumes is also EDT because the EXIF data does not include the time zone). If you try to sync your photos to the GPX track, they’ll all be four hours off!

Thankfully, re-aligning the time zones is incredibly easy in Adobe Lightroom. When you load the GPX file into Lightroom, it will ask you if you want to correct the time zone. If you’ve synced your cameras to UTC, simply take the UTC offset of your local timezone and reverse the sign. For example, if you’re on the US east coast, which is UTC-4, set the time zone correction to +4 hours. This tells Lightroom to add 4 hours to the “2022-04-11 11:21 EDT” GPX timestamp, syncing it back up with the “2022-04-11 15:21” timestamp on the camera.

Still confused? If you don’t want to deal with having to adjust timezones in Lightroom, there’s an easy alternative. Simply set your computer’s time zone to UTC before you import anything into Lightroom. Once you’re finished geotagging your photos, set the time zone on your computer back to local time.

Import the GPX File and the Photos and Videos From Your Shoot into Lightroom

To import the GPX File into Lightroom, first open the map viewer. At the bottom of the window, you’ll see a bar to select the map style, a zoom slider, a lock, and a track button, which is circled in green below.

Click the track button and select “Load Tracklog” at the very top of the menu. Navigate to the tracklogs you just pulled off your GPS. Click OK to load them into Lightroom.

Now, you’ll set the time zone offset as we discussed in the previous section. If you’re working in your local time zone (or have set your computer’s time zone to UTC to match the camera and GPS), you don’t need to add any offset to the track. Remember, if you synced the camera and GPS to UTC, simply take the UTC offset of your local time zone and flip the sign. In other words, set the offset to +4 hours for Eastern Time (UTC-4) or +7 hours for Pacific Time (UTC-7). Click OK to confirm the time zone offset.

You should see the trackline from your adventure appear on the map. Do note that if Lightroom detects that your tracklog time zone does not appear to match the time zone of your photos, it will highlight the trackline log time in red. In that case, click the track button at the bottom and select “Set Time Zone Offset” to set the correct time zone.

Once you’ve confirmed that the track loaded correctly, then import your photos and videos just like you always have.

Geotag Your Photos in Lightroom with the Click of a Button

Now that both the track and your media are all in place, it’s time to geotag them in Lightroom. In the filmstrip at the bottom of the window, select the photos and videos you want to geotag. Then, click on the track button once again, and select “Auto-Tag XX Selected Photos”, where XX is the number of photos you selected.

You should see a bunch of points appear on your trackline. Hover over them and you’ll see your photos. If they’re not quite in the right position, you can drag them around to put them in the right place.

Don’t Have a Handheld GPS? Use a Smartphone Instead.

If you don’t have a handheld GPS, there are plenty of smartphone apps out there to generate a GPX file of your adventure. In the past I’ve always used the AllTrails app, which is available for free for both Apple and Android devices. AllTrails is designed for hiking and biking, but you can use it to track any activity. Here are directions to export your track from the AllTrails app. Make sure you export it as a GPX track, and not a GPX route.

Alternate Methods to Geotag Your Photos in Lightroom without a Built-in GPS

While geotagging photos and videos in Adobe Lightroom using a GPX track is by far the easiest and most accurate way to add location data to your images and videos, it’s not the only way.

First off, Lightroom offers several ways to add location data manually. You can directly edit the metadata of your images directly in Lightroom, or use the map interface to geotag your images. You can find plenty of tutorials for manual geotagging with a quick Google search. For more information, here is Adobe’s official documentation.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few drawbacks to geotagging your images manually. While it works fine for a few photos, it’s impossible to scale up to large photo albums, collections, and libraries, unless you have a serious amount of both time and will to put into it.

You can also geotag your photos using Python. We’ll cover this in a future tutorial, but you can use Python’s Pillow library to add location to your images’ metadata. You’ll need to loop through your image files, add the appropriate location metadata (lat/long coordinates or city/state/country), and then save the files. Be aware that this can get very complicated if you have a lot of photos taken in a lot of different locations. However, unlike manually adding location data, using Python is infinitely scalable, both up and down.

Conclusion

Geotagging photos is a critical part of both the workflow and staying organized as a landscape and travel photographer. With so many cameras still lacking built-in GPS functionalities, it becomes even more critical to know how to geotag photos in Adobe Lightroom without built-in GPS. Using GPX track files is by far the best alternative to built-in GPS that’s out there. Except for a few spots time zones can trip you up, the method is foolproof, accurate, reliable, and only requires one GPS, regardless of how many cameras you have. In my book, though, the benefits of having a geotagged library far outweigh the occasional hiccup from a mislabeled time zone.

Interested in more of these tutorials? I’n addition to the blog entries, I’ll be posting them to YouTube and sending them out via our email newsletter as well. Please subscribe to our email newsletter and our YouTube channel for the latest tutorials, and get exclusive deals to our online store that are not available anywhere else.

The post How to Geotag Your Photos in Adobe Lightroom Without a Built-in GPS appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

Today, we’ll be using these essential story elements to tell the story of the EF-5 tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma on 20 May, 2013. Even though we’ll be using maps and photography to tell the story, you could easily use a video, blog post, podcast, and much more, too.

Plan As Many Story Elements as You Can

It’s hard to tell a story if you don’t know the basic elements. As a result, you should plan out as many elements of your story as possible. If you’re planning a photo and video shoot, these elements of your story don’t need to be set in stone – there’s a lot if improvising in making travel videos, for example, especially if you’re going to be shooting in a location you’ve never been to before.

But you should have at least a general idea of how you’ll portray your story to your readers. Without that planning, you’ll likely miss shots while you’re out filming, and negatively impact the quality of your final presentation. Simply do your research and plan out your story before you go out on a photo or video shoot. This technique works, even for difficult-to-plan genres, such as travel videos.

1. Set the Stage in the Setting

At the beginning of your story, you have a very limited time to set the stage for your story. With video, you you need to both set the stage and hook your viewer in the first 10-15 seconds.

For the Moore tornado, the stage will be set on the morning of 20 May. It’s the third, and most dangerous day of a three-day tornado outbreak across the southern plains. The previous day had seen violent tornadoes in Oklahoma, including an EF-4 inside the Oklahoma City metro that carved a path from Norman to Shawnee. We’ll use the Day 1 SPC outlooks and discussions to set the stage (note the usage of the strong, long-track tornadoes wording), as well as storm reports from the 19th. Furthermore, when you stepped outside that morning, it just had “that felling” that something significant was about to happen.

2. Determine the Point of View From Which Your Story is Told

From whose point of view will you be telling your story? Consider a murder mystery. The story will have a very different feel being told from the murderer’s point of view vs the detectives’ point of view.

For an event like the Moore tornado, you could choose to tell it through the point of view of the news media. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, there is a much better way to tell the story. And that’s through the eyes of someone who was there when it happened. As a result, I’ll be sharing my firsthand account of my experience that day.

3. Introduce Your Characters

Before you begin telling your story, you should at the very least know who the main characters are. For the Moore tornado (and some of my travel videos), I am the main character. On the other hand, if you’re telling the story of a place or event with historical significance, you’ll need to transport your audience back in time. The people who lived through those historical events will be your main characters. But to fully immerse your audience in your story, try making them the main character. Tell your story in second person, and let your audience experience it.

If you’re planning the story of something that can’t be scripted – like travel videos or blogs – it’s perfectly okay to not know every single character. When you’re traveling, you never know the interesting people with colorful personalities you’ll meet along the way. This could be a random stranger you’re sitting next to at lunch or on the train. Maybe it’s the proprietor of an incredible hole-in-the-wall coffee shop you stopped at along the way. Or perhaps, it’s the local guide that you hired for that bucket-list experience. Once you get done filming your adventure, just make sure you know how every character works into your story. And if they don’t play a meaningful role in moving your story along, leave them out.

4. Every Story Needs a Hook

The hook is one of the most important elements of your story, if not the most important. As you set the stage for your story, you also need to dangle a “hook” to your reader or viewer. That hook is designed to draw them into the story. It shouldn’t leave them just yearning to see what happens next. It should leave them craving it. Have you ever binge-watched a show all at once? The writers of bingeable shows are incredibly gifted at creating effective hooks. Those hooks are what keeps you pushing forward to the next episode instead of turning off the TV and going to do something else.

A good hook gives a sneak peak of what’s coming, but doesn’t give the storyline away. It could be a review of the conflict, the resolution, or anything else in the story. For the Moore tornado, we can state what the tornado hit – two elementary schools and a hospital. Notice that we didn’t say how much damage was done or if there were any injuries or causalities. We could also show the radar and the tornado emergency that was issued for the City of Moore as the tornado barreled towards it.

5. The Plot

The plot is the most important of all story elements, by far. In fact, I could write an entire post (and I probably will) on how to structure your plot to keep your readers engaged and wanting to know what will happen next. Plots are broken into 5 elements, and we can use a Freytag’s Pyramid to illustrate those 5 stages.

Plot Elements for Your Story

1. Exposition. Set the stage for your story. Introduce your characters, give your audience the hook to draw them in, and begin to introduce the primary conflict.
2. Rising Action. In this stage, your protagonist addresses the primary conflict with a form of action. As you approach the climax, those actions should build and escalate tension, like approaching the top of a roller coaster.
3. Climax. This is the pivotal moment your audience has been waiting for. Your protagonist will encounter their greatest challenge of the entire journey. It’s the culmination of the buildup of tension during the rising action phase. Make it exciting for your audience!
4. Falling Action. Your protagonist will deal with the consequences and fallout – both good and bad – of everything that happened during the climax. Keep your audience engaged by setting the stage for the story’s conclusion. By the end of this phase, you’ll be well on your way to a (hopefully satisfying) conclusion. Additionally, you should start resolving any conflicts that arose as a result of the climax.
5. Resolution or Dénouement. You can go one of two ways here. If this is actually the end of your story, wrap everything up. Tie up loose ends. Give your audience a sense of closure so they know the fate of your protagonist. On the other hand, if you’re writing a series or sequel, you should introduce another hook to leave your audience craving the next episode. Cliffhangers work exceptionally well as that hook.

Now, let’s look at how we can apply Freytag’s Pyramid to the plot of the story of the Moore tornado.

The Plot Elements of the Moore Tornado

6. Without a Conflict, There is No Story

Your story’s conflict answers the question of why your character is embarking on this journey. Without a conflict, you don’t have a story. It’s as simple as that. In your story, the conflict is what causes your character to take action and move the story forward. Conflicts can be both physical and mental. For example, if you’re telling a story about climbing Mt. Everest, the physical or external conflict consists of all the dangers your character encounters on their way to the summit. From frigid temperatures to thin air to dangerous terrain to altitude sickness, one false move could kill your character as they ascend the mountain.

On the other hand, let’s look at a mental conflict. Mental conflicts are internal journeys, and often tend to focus on a single main character. The best example of a simple mental conflict is a character’s journey to overcome their fear of heights so they can go skydiving or bungee jumping. You could also tell the story of how your protagonist overcame their stutter to become a great public speaker.

Keep in mind that while there is usually only one primary conflict, most stories have multiple conflicts. Additional conflicts tend to come in two forms. First, they can be sub-conflicts, that when put together, make up the primary conflict. If you’ve ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur’s quest to find the grail is comprised of numerous smaller conflicts they encounter along the way. The conflicts escalate as they get closer to the grail, culminating with the Bridge of Death and the Killer Bunny.

Cascading Conflicts in the Aftermath of the Moore Tornado

Conflicts in the story of the Moore Tornado fall into the second category of multiple conflicts. In these stories, the primary conflict sets off a series of additional conflicts during the falling action. In Moore, the primary conflict is the tornado itself. But after the tornado levels the city, a whole new slate of smaller conflicts emerges.

• With the city’s critical infrastructure destroyed, how do search and rescue teams coordinate and communicate their efforts?
• Debris is everywhere, rendering roads impassable. How do search and rescue teams get into these areas and rescue survivors without using the roads?
• The damage path is 17 miles long and 1 mile wide. Where do search and rescue teams, as well as city and state resources, prioritize their efforts?
• What do survivors do and where do we send them once they’re rescued? How do we get relief to storm victims as soon as possible?

There are obviously many more conflicts than just this following a major tornado, but this should get you started.

Even the Simplest Stories Have Conflicts

When you tell your story, remember that you can find conflict in even the simplest, most monotonous things. Take going to the grocery store as an example. I can think of one major conflict we’ve encountered going to the grocery store recently: the COVID-19 pandemic.

But even without a global pandemic, you can still find conflict to tell the story of your trip to the grocery store. Maybe you’re looking for a very special ingredient and have to go to 3 or 4 stores before you find it. Perhaps your character has fallen on hard times and needs to stretch a tight budget as far as possible. Or what if there’s a major winter storm coming and you have to fight through treacherous conditions and low supply to stock up ahead of the storm.

Conflicts can be really anything you think of, but you need to know your audience. If you create a story that your audience isn’t interested in, they’re not going to listen to you tell it. If you’re stuck looking for a conflict, ask yourself why your character is going on this journey. The answer to that question is the conflict in your story.

7. The Resolution

At the end of your story, you should tie up all loose ends and give your audience a sense of closure for how your story ended. Regardless of whether your story has a happy or sad ending, your audience should know what the characters’ lives will look like now that their struggles are over and the conflict has been resolved.

However, if you’re planning on writing a sequel or another episode, you can easily leave the door open to another chapter of the story. While one conflict is resolved, your character may facing another one. In that case, dangle another hook or cliffhanger to leave your audience eagerly waiting to come back for the next chapter. Then you can go back to the beginning of this guide and start the journey all over again.

The Moore Tornado Story in Maps and Pictures

Conclusion

Regardless of what media you are using to tell your story, you’ll be using the same seven elements to tell it. Planning is critical to being able to tell an insightful and engaging story, especially if you have to go out and shoot photos or video of it. Without a plan, your story will wander and ramble, and your audience will lose interest. Set the stage, hook them in, and leave them craving to see what happens next. Because at the end of the day, you shouldn’t want to just tell your story. You should want your audience to experience it.

Top Photo: The Reward at the End of a Tough Hike
Sedona, Arizona – August, 2016

The post The 7 Essential Elements You Need to Tell Your Story appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

Update: Beginning 31 March, 2022, Indiana Dunes National Park will charge $25 per vehicle to enter the park.

A Brief History of the Indiana Dunes

In 1899, Henry Chandler Cowles, a botanist at the University of Chicago, began the first movement to preserve what’s now the Indiana Dunes. Cowles’ movement cited the unique flora at the dunes as the reason to preserve the area. The movement rapidly gained momentum. By 1916, the National Parks Service held hearings in Chicago about preserving the area as Sand Dunes National Park.

Unfortunately, local manufacturing plants had discovered that the sand at the Indiana Dunes was ideal for making glass. As a result, the 1916 hearing went nowhere. Glass manufacturing had completely consumed one of the most famous dunes by 1920. Facing backlash from the local residents, the State of Indiana stepped in and designated the area as Indiana Dunes State Park in 1926. You can still see evidence today of the manufacturing that went on at the Indiana Dunes in the early 20th century.

The federal government didn’t show any interest in the Indiana Dunes until the 1950’s. Preservation efforts ramped up again when a Port of Indiana was proposed to maximize economic development in the area. Activists began a nationwide campaign to buy the land and preserve the dunes. Their efforts were successful. In 1966, the U.S. Congress passed a bill to preserve the area as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Between 1976 and 1992, Congress expanded the national lakeshore four times, bringing it to the size it is today.

In 2017, both senators and representatives from Indiana sponsored a bill to turn the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore into a National Park. While it took a couple years to finally get a vote on the bill, it passed Congress and became law on 15 Feburary, 2019. Indiana had its first National Park.

Where is Indiana Dunes National Park?

Indiana Dunes National Park covers 15 miles (24 km) of shoreline on Lake Michigan between Gary and Michigan City, Indiana. It’s just a 45 minute drive from both downtown Chicago and South Bend. If you’re coming from further away, the dunes are an easy day’s drive from Detroit, Indianapolis, much of Ohio, and even St. Louis.

The Indiana Dunes Can Migrate Up to 18 Feet Per Year…and Swallow Everything in Their Path

Indiana Dunes National Park has some of the most fascinating geology east of the Mississippi. At times, the dunes can behave like a living, breathing creature. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey makes quite a statement about them on their website.

Dunes in the park are still actively migrating downwind. They move as layer after layer of sand is blown from the front of the dune over to the slipface. The most active dune, Mount Baldy, can move up to 18 feet in a year, swallowing up entire trees as it advances.

U.S. Geological Survey

When I first read that, I thought, “Come on. I get that dunes are always moving, but entire trees? Really?” When I got to Indiana Dunes National Park, Mt. Baldy happened to be my very first stop. When I pulled into the parking lot, this is what I saw. Insert foot into mouth.

Interestingly, I continued to notice the dunes just swallowing everything as I made my way through the park. Trees, signs, benches, parking lots. You name it, the dunes were swallowing it. The Indiana Dunes actually remind me a lot of White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Both parks have a lot of fine, sugary sand. Dunes are constantly in motion, advancing and retreating as the wind shifts throughout the year. However, unlike White Sands, the sand at Indiana Dunes National Park does not dissolve in water.

Indiana Dunes National Park Offers Outdoor Activities Year Round

While Indiana Dunes is best known for its summer recreation and relaxation, the park offers an abundance of outdoor activities year round. Don’t discount the shoulder or offseason. There is plenty to do, and the lack of crowds in any National Park makes for a completely immersive and memorable experience.

• Hiking
• Biking
• Swimming and Sunbathing
• Boating
• Cross Country Skiing, Snowshoeing, and Sledding
• View the spectacular shelf ice on Lake Michigan in the winter
• See beautiful colors in the fall
• Scenic Drives
• Birdwatching and Animal Watching
• Horseback Riding
• Camping and Picnicking
• Learn About the History of the Area

Take in Breathtaking Views of Lake Michigan

For being in a state that has a reputation of being very flat, the Indiana Dunes offer an incredibly diverse choice of absolutely stunning viewpoints and lookouts over the turquoise waters of Lake Michigan. Hike up to the top of the tallest dunes and paths for stunning panoramic vistas nearly 200 feet above the lake. Alternatively, soak in the sun and scenery from lake level as you walk along the beach or wade in the water. I could go on and on here, but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

See Indiana’s Rarest Flora and Fauna

Indiana Dunes is one of the most diverse regions in the United States. The park is home to some of Indiana’s rarest flora, as well as many species of fauna. If you’re looking for a specific species, make sure you know the best season for viewing them before you plan your trip. If you don’t have a specific species in mind, the Indiana Dunes boasts both spectacular fall colors and an incredible variety of wildflowers in the spring. Even when I visited in early December, it’s easy to get caught up and absorbed in nature. There was no shortage of plants and animals to look at in the winter.

Indiana Dunes Photography and Videography Tips

To get the most from your photo or video shoot, you’ll want to spend at least one full day at the park. Take advantage of the Golden Hour at both ends of the day to get some spectacular sunrise and sunset pictures. Let the low light bathe the dunes in vibrant warm colors. During the day, shift your focus to the water. Let the powerful midday sun bring out the best teals, blues, and greens in Lake Michigan. Additionally, go for a hike or a scenic drive to photograph some of the lesser seen parts of the park in the woods, marshes, grasslands, and other surrounding areas.

Furthermore, Indiana Dunes National Park offers so many different stories you can tell through your photos and videos. Whether you’re into nature, history, recreation, or anything else, there’s a story for you to tell. I encourage you to partake in any of the activities we discussed earlier to help you tell your story.

Best Locations to Shoot Photos and Videos

You can take great pictures and videos pretty much anywhere inside Indiana Dunes National Park. But here are my favorite places for a shoot.

• Mt. Baldy
• Central Avenue Beach
• Dunbar Beach
• Porter Beach
• Forest scenery along US-12

Advantages of Visiting in the Winter Offseason

There is one major reason to visit Indiana Dunes National Park during the winter offseason: the lack of crowds. When I visited in early December, there were certainly a few other people out and about, but I largely had the place to myself. You don’t have to worry about traffic or parking, even in places where parking is typically very limited. And being able to shoot photos and videos on a nearly empty beach is simply magical.

Furthermore, the low sun angle in the wintertime makes for some really beautiful light on the dunes for landscape photography. The sun remains high enough in the winter that you can still get shots of the brilliant turquoise, blue, and green waters in the middle of the day. And with sunset being so early, you’ll be done with your sunset shoot long before dinner.

Conclusion

Indiana Dunes is one of America’s newest, most diverse, and most underrated National Parks. Regardless of your interests, hobbies, and passions, the park offers outdoor activities, places to explore, and stories to tell for everyone year round. Have you been or are you planning to go? What was your favorite part? What are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.

Top Photo: The turquoise waters of Lake Michigan shimmer under the brilliant sunlight
Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana – December, 2021

The post Indiana Dunes: One of America’s Most Underrated National Parks appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

So what’s my secret? I apply my education and experience in meteorology and storm chasing to make weather a focal point of my landscape photography and travel videos. Being proactive instead of reactive allows me to stay in front of changing weather. As a result, I am already in position ready to shoot whenever my target weather arrives. It doesn’t matter if I’m waiting for a sunset, a blizzard, or a thunderstorm. The strategy is the same. And today, I want to teach you that strategy so you can use weather to improve your landscape photography and travel videos.

A Word About Safety While Filming Weather

Whenever you go out in the field when hazardous weather is expected, safety should always be your number one concern. You can easily get yourself hurt or killed if you bite off more than you can chew. For example, don’t try to shoot lightning in the middle of an open field. If you don’t feel comfortable doing something, then don’t do it. It’s not worth hurting or killing yourself just to get “the shot”.

The High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) Model

The U.S. Federal Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developed the HRRR model (pronounced “her”). As a result, its spatial domain is limited to the United States. Because of its extremely fine resolution, it is highly accurate, having never let me down once during my tenure chasing storms. My own intuition ignored the model a few times, and let’s just say those always ended in busts.

The HRRR has several key features.

• Initialized from the Rapid Refresh (RAP) model, which gets its data from the global GFS (American) model.
• 3 km resolution is fine enough to resolve most individual thunderstorms, making it an invaluable tool for storm chasing
• Runs once per hour, on the top of the hour
• Forecasts 48 hours into the future, a significant increase over its 12-hour forecasts when I started storm chasing

While you can easily get HRRR predictions from most modeling sites, I prefer to get it straight from NOAA. When you load the NOAA site, you’ll see an interface that looks like this. To zoom in on a particular geographic area, select a region from the “Domain” dropdown. The timestamps contain the day of the week and the hour of the day, in UTC. Each row is a different model parameter. Click on a cell for the parameter and forecast hour you want to see, or click on the check in the “Loop” column to see a loop of all times.

Basic HRRR Parameters

Before I begin a model analysis, I like to look at the basic weather parameters, both on a national and regional scale. Here are the HRRR parameters that correspond to the basic weather data. We’ll define them shortly once we dive into some examples.

We’ll dive into additional parameters that are specific to certain types of weather phenomena, photography, and videography later in this tutorial, but these are more than enough to get you going.

HRRR Time Zones

All HRRR parameters and runs are initialized and output using Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), or Greenwich Mean Time. UTC always uses the 24-hour clock, so you don’t need to worry about AM or PM. The model often uses Zulu notation to indicate times. For example, if the model date says “14 Dec 2021 – 17Z”, that means that the model was run on 14 December, 2021 at 17:00 UTC. In the model output, “Wed 08” indicates the model’s prediction for Wednesday at 08:00 UTC.

Basic Storm Chasing Strategy for Weather Photography

You can ask three different storm chasers for their strategy, and you’ll probably get three very different answers. However, I prefer to keep my strategy as simple as possible. Not only because I’m a big believer in the moniker “Keep It Simple, Stupid”, but also because it makes it much easier to share my knowledge with you. Even though I designed this strategy for storm chasing, you can apply it to every type of landscape photography or travel video.

Step 1: 1 to 2 Days Before the Chase

Look at the Storm Prediction Center‘s (SPC) Day 2 and 3 Severe Weather Outlooks. Next, read the forecasts and discussions from your local National Weather Service Office. Finally, have a look at the weather models, looking for where the parameters best come together. At the very least, look at the GFS (American) and ECMWF (European) models. You may not quite be into the HRRR’s time range yet. However, if you are, please use the HRRR, too.

Your goal is to identify broad potential target areas. For example, you could identify Western Oklahoma, Central Kansas, and the Texas Panhandle as potential targets. While the outlook above doesn’t give the whole picture, targeting Northwestern Oklahoma and South-Central Kansas seems like a pretty safe bet. Don’t worry about specific locations within that target area yet. You’ll figure that out once the event gets a little closer and the models get a better idea of what’s going to happen.

Step 2: The Evening Before the Chase

Using the same resources you used in Step 1 to choose your preferred target area. If you can identify a backup target area in case your primary target doesn’t work out, great, but it’s certainly not necessary. At this point, you can start looking at specific areas inside your broader target area. You just want to identify them, since you won’t choose one until tomorrow.

Step 3: The Morning of the Chase

Have a final look at the models, SPC Outlooks, and local forecasts before you hit the road. Confirm or adjust your chosen target area as needed. After that, choose a specific area to start within that broader target area.

Additionally, you should identify a jumping off point before departing for the chase. The jumping off point should be close enough to where storms are expected to fire, but far enough in front of them so you’re not trying to outrun them just to get ahead. I often used small towns, truck stops, and scenic lookouts as jumping off points. Look for places where two major roads intersect. You want to quickly and easily be able to go north, south, east, or west once storms fire.

Step 4: Drive to Your Target Area

Once you’re on the road, you should be checking the HRRR every hour or two. That way, as you drive to your jumping off point, you can easily adjust it as necessary. Try to arrive at least 30 minutes before storms are expected to initiate so you can get your gear set up. If you pick your jumping off point correctly, you’ll be in perfect position when storms do fire.

Step 5: Wait for Storms to Fire

Once storms initiate, use doppler radar to identify the specific storm you want to chase. Your target storm should align with your goals for the chase. For example, you could pick very different storms depending on whether you were doing weather or landscape photography versus trying to deploy sensors into the storm. Then, the chase is on.

My Greatest Storm Chasing Success: The 19 May, 2012 Harper, Kansas Tornadoes

My greatest storm chasing success came when a hunch, model intuition, and a little luck all came together just perfectly. I could write an entire post telling this story, so I’ll give you the abridged version here.

For several days leading up to 19 May, 2012, it became clear that there was a very good chance for tornadoes near a triple point that was setting up in south-central Nebraska. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a triple point, it’s the point where a warm front, cold front, and dryline meet. Model runs the morning of the chase confirmed that Nebraska was the most likely spot for tornadoes.

I wasn’t all that keen on driving from Oklahoma all the way to Nebraska, so I instead decided to look for something closer to home. That’s when I turned to the HRRR. It showed a window of very favorable conditions for tornadoes opening along the Kansas-Oklahoma border just before sunset. It was a very brief window – only about 20 minutes or so – but it looked even better than Nebraska. Timing would be critical.

Not wanting to rely on just a single model, I looked at several other models. They all showed the same window for tornadoes opening up along the Kansas-Oklahoma border. I had to give it a shot. Before I knew it, I was on the road, heading north up Interstate 35.

Everything Comes Together Perfectly for Awe-Inspiring Weather and Landscape Photography

I got up to the Kansas-Oklahoma border about 2 hours before sunset. My first stop was right off I-35 in Blackwell, Oklahoma to set up my jumping off point. A quick look at the HRRR showed everything was still in place for tornadoes at sunset just north of the state line. I decided to head west and make Medford, Oklahoma my jumping off point, which gave me easy access to a northbound road (US-81) into Kansas.

Before long, clouds started to bubble up on the dryline out to the west. Satellite and radar confirmed the HRRR’s predictions that the storms were going to be north of the state line, so I decided to move my jumping off point up to Caldwell, Kansas. By the time I got to Caldwell, the storms had fired and were heading towards the town of Harper, Kansas. I continued north and the chase was on. By the time I got to US-160, the weather radio was already blaring with Tornado Warnings. All I had to do was head west.

Just east of Harper, I pulled off onto a side street and had the whole show to myself. There was not another vehicle around, let alone any chaser traffic. That cluster of supercells produced over a dozen tornadoes in about 20 minutes, capped off by a breathtaking EF-3 tornado packing winds over 160 mph. The setting sun behind it was just icing on the cake.

Then, just like that, our very brief window for tornadoes slammed shut. The tornado became rain-wrapped before lifting as the sun set and darkness set in.

The Sweetest Victory Lies in the Photography

As I made my way back to I-35 to head home, lots of storm chasers started passing me going the other direction. After being so void of vehicles the entire chase, I couldn’t believe how many storm chasers were now heading towards Harper. But I knew they were too late. The tornadoes were done. The window was closed.

Interestingly, I didn’t realize the sweetest part of my victory until the next morning when I turned on the local news. Remember that triple point up in Nebraska? It had completely busted. Have a look at the storm reports. The red dots are confirmed tornadoes.

As a result, all of the chaser traffic I encountered on my way home were everyone who had been up in Nebraska racing down trying (unsuccessfully) to catch the storms in Kansas. I was one of only a small handful of people who had gotten footage of tornadoes that day.

Severe Weather in Landscape Photography and Travel Videos

As you can probably guess, the most practical application of our storm chasing strategy is for severe weather photography. Here are some severe weather parameters you should consider for your photo or video shoot. I’ve defined them in layman’s terms to help you understand them. You need to look where all of these come together with the target values. Just one parameter being off can completely shut off all storm activity.

Sunrises and Sunsets in Landscape Photography and Travel Videos

The Golden Hour is one of the most sought after period for landscape photographers and travel videographers. The low, warm light seems to make the landscape glow and the shadows dance. It’s a truly magical time of day. In fact, weather is what transforms you sunset landscape photography from okay to jaw dropping. Fortunately, the HRRR makes it pretty easy to identify the best location to film a sunrise or sunset.

Before we dive into the HRRR parameters, let’s recall what makes a good sunset. Brilliant sunset colors come from light refraction through clouds, dust, and other particles, so we need to examine cloud cover and thickness closely. Too many or too few clouds will result in a lousy sunset.

Unfortunately, the HRRR does not output cloud thickness as a parameter. However, it does output all of the parameters we need to calculate it. To get cloud thickness, simply use one of the following equations. The terms of each equation are defined below.

cloud thickness = cloud top height - ceiling
cloud thickness = cloud top height - LCL

Do note that if you’re using the second equation, cloud top heights are output in feet, while the LCL is output in meters! For best sunset colors, you want 25 to 45% coverage of thin, mid-to-high-level cirrus or cumulus clouds.

A Word About the Cloud Ceiling

The cloud ceiling is primarily used in aviation to indicate the height of the bottom of obstructing clouds. That means that if there is a cloud ceiling present, clouds will likely be thick enough to obscure the sunset, regardless of whether you find them in the low, mid, or high levels.

Additionally, don’t forget that rain showers can also make for spectacular sunsets. However, you should only try to integrate rain showers into your landscape photography in the summer. Small, pop-up summer showers can refract the light in spectacular ways. Winter showers are most often too thick and widespread to refract any light, which will ruin your sunset. Use the 1 km agl reflectivity parameter to evaluate rain shower potential.

Finally, know what compass bearing the sun sets or rises at. That bearing varies by both location and by time of year.

Winter Weather in Landscape Photography and Travel Videos

I break winter weather photography into two categories: inside the storm and post-storm. Both have their pros and cons. On one hand, you can capture the drama and intensity of blowing snow and bitter cold temperatures from inside the storm. On the other hand, a post-winter storm period can often be a spectacular 24-hour long Golden Hour to add breathtaking weather scenes to your landscape photography or travel videos. A fresh blanket of snow on a dramatic landscape makes for absolutely stunning photos and videos. For a textbook example, just have a look the Grand Canyon under a fresh blanket of snow.

Thankfully, both types of winter weather photography use the exact same strategy and parameters with the HRRR. The only difference is the timing.

For in-storm filming, you may want to also consider both wind speed and visibility. Alternatively, if you’re heading out after the storm, you’ll generally want at least 5 miles (8 km) of visibility, with at least a little sunlight poking through the clouds.

Finally, a word of caution. Be very careful around winter weather. Roads can close and travel can become impossible with little to no warning. If you don’t feel comfortable doing something, don’t do it. Trust me, you do not want to be stranded in your car in the middle of a major winter storm. If you have four wheel drive and/or tire chains, use them.

Lightning in Landscape Photography and Travel Videos

Lightning photography is one of the most challenging types of weather photography, but also one of the most rewarding. If just 5% of your lightning photos come out, you’re doing extraordinarily well. Thankfully, lightning happens everywhere, so you shouldn’t have to travel great distances to film it. In fact, you don’t need severe weather to get good lightning.

Before setting off to photography lightning, you must ensure your own safety. Lightning is one of the top weather killers not just in the United States, but around the world. Always shoot lightning from inside a building or car, or at the vary least, a grounded overhang. Do not under any circumstance stand under trees to try to film lightning. Trees often explode when struck by lightning, which will shower you in splinters, jagged wood, and molten sap.

Lightning Strategy

The strategy for lightning photography is staggeringly simple: set up in a dark spot at night, open the shutter, and let the picture take itself. If you’re shooting video, you can film lightning in the daytime, but even then, I still find your best shots come at night. Set up a ways from the storm to shoot lightning. That way, you’ll stay out of the rain. You’ll need a bit of luck, but when you do succeed, the results are, quite literally, electric.

While it’s impossible to predict exactly when and where lightning will strike, the HRRR will give you enough information to have a really good shot at it. Try to set up in a location where you don’t put yourself directly in the storm’s path.

Rainbows in Landscape Photography and Travel Videos

Most rainbow photos occur when you happen to look up and see a rainbow. But believe it or not, rainbow chasing is actually a thing. And unlike tornadoes, lightning, and blizzards, rainbows are one phenomenon you don’t have to worry about killing you while you’re out doing weather or landscape photography.

In order to see a rainbow, you need to put yourself between the sun and the rain, with the sun behind you and the rain in front of you. In order to see a rainbow in the afternoon or evening, you want to be looking east at the rain. On the other hand, you want to look west to see rainbows in the morning.

Additionally, sun angles play a critical role in finding rainbows. Unless you’re standing on top of a mountain or skyscraper, it’s much easier to put yourself between the sun and the rain when sun angles are low. As a result, you are much more likely to encounter rainbows during the Golden Hour period near sunrise and sunset than you are at high noon.

You can easily track cloud cover and precipitation with the HRRR. However, keep in mind that rainbows are far from guaranteed under any circumstance. No model is accurate enough to predict exactly where a rainbow will occur.

Weather in Seascape Photography

Seascapes are a stunningly effective way to integrate weather into your landscape photography and travel videos. Similar to winter weather photography, you have two options when it comes to the seascape side of landscape photography. With a few very unique exceptions, they require being in vastly different locations. If you’re looking to double-dip and get both types in one shoot, you’re likely going to be disappointed.

Cold Weather Seascape Photography

Largely grey and void of color, when taken correctly, viewers can almost feel the cold from a maritime layer that’s often thick and penetrating when they look at the photo or video. Locations such as downeast Maine, northern Europe, the Pacific Northwest, and the Canadian Maritimes come to mind when you think of cold weather seascapes. You’ll need to look at a few HRRR parameters

Tropical Seascape Photography

White sand. Warm breezes. Salty air. Lit up with brilliant and vibrant greens, blues, and turquoises, tropical seascapes will whisk you off to paradise. They’re warm, inviting, and relaxing, putting you in that vacation mode whenever you look at them, seemingly an escape from your reality. That’s probably why you have them as your computer desktop and have them hanging throughout your office. You can almost taste the fruity cocktails before you snap back into reality.

Interestingly, tropical seascapes are one of the only types of outdoor photography or videography that are more striking in the middle of the day than during the Golden Hour. Applying color theory explains a lot. Warm low light doesn’t draw out greens and blues. In fact, it does the opposite.

Finally, don’t forget about the optics and the physics of your tropical seascape. Those brilliant colors come from the sunlight refracting in the water. In order to maximize the brilliance of those colors, the sun must be as high in the sky as possible. Thick cloud cover blocks much of the sunlight, significantly limiting the amount of light that can refract in the water. As a result, colors will appear dull, dim, and muted.

Temperatures for Seascape Photography

You may have noticed that temperature is missing from the HRRR parameters for seascape photography and videos. Why is that? It’s because you don’t actually need cold temperatures for grey seascapes or warm temperatures for tropical beach photos. Don’t believe me? Have a look at these pictures I took at Lake Tahoe during the month of February. Temperatures that day topped out at 41°F (5°C), with plenty of fresh snow in the mountains.

Mist or Fog in Forest Landscape Photography and Travel Videos

I love forests shrouded in mist. They instill a sense of mystery and adventure, often whisking you away to another world. There’s a reason they are the setting of so many adventure movies. And I just love the striking contrast of the sun shining through the mist like a spotlight.

Best of all, you can find misty forests year round. One of my favorite locations to capture misty scenes is at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which sits on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. The sequoia and redwood forests in California are another top destination for misty forest photography and videography. Make sure you pick a destination that still has plenty of green in the forest. Early mornings in the spring and fall work best for mist, but you can get some stunning winter pictures in a forest of evergreens.

Before we dive into HRRR parameters, let’s have a look at what conditions make for the best mist photography. First and foremost, you need to have 100% relative humidity. Mist will not condense out of the air if the humidity is below 100%. Second, there should not be any wind. Wind causes mist and fog to mix out and burn off.

Go Up in Elevation to Lengthen Your Window for Mist

Once you start photographing fog and mist, you’ll be amazed at how quickly it comes and goes. This is especially true early in the day, as heat from the morning sun drops the relative humidity, rapidly burning off any mist or fog. However, there is one more secret weapon in our back pocket to maximize the length of your window for shooting mist: the much overlooked z-axis, or, to put in layman’s terms, controlling your elevation.

As you go up in elevation, the temperature cools. Because cooler air can’t hold as much moisture as warmer air, more moisture will condense out at higher elevations. As a result, fog and mist will hang around longer because it requires more energy to burn them off. But, like everything, it comes with a catch. If too much water condenses out, the mist and fog will be too thick to let the sunlight shine through. Those photos and videos can still be stunning, but you won’t get those really striking pictures of the sun shining through the mist. If you ever find yourself in this situation, go back down to lower elevations to thin out the fog and mist.

Live in the Desert? You’re Not Completely Out of Luck

And if you live in an arid climate, don’t worry, you can still get in on the action. Sunlight filtering through dust, pollution, or wildfire smoke can give you the same effect. Even in a desert climate like Arizona, you can still get spectacular mist scenery in the winter, when cooler temperatures are much more conducive to condensing out what little water there is in the atmosphere. Dawn after an overnight rain will present you with your best photo and video opportunities for mist and fog.

Get Started Boosting Your Efficiency Adding Weather to Your Landscape Photography and Travel Videos

NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid Refresh model is an incredibly powerful tool whose applications stretch far beyond storm chasing. When used with storm chasing strategy, you can take the guess work out of adding weather to your landscape photography and travel videos. Give yourself more control over your photo and video shoots and work much more efficiently. And at the end of the day, you’ll ultimately be able to boost your revenues. What are you waiting for?

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Top Photo: A large dust storm swallows up a mountain range as it crosses from Mexico into the United States
Why, Arizona – July, 2018

The post The HRRR Weather Model: How To Add Dramatic Skies To Your Landscape Photography appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

Right on cue, a line of massive rotating supercell thunderstorms explodes on the dryline in the late afternoon. You don’t have to wait long before Tornado Warnings start blaring on the weather radio. Now, you have some decisions to make.

• What storm in the line do you target? The strategy for choosing a target storm for photography or video can be very different from deploying sensors in its path.
• How close to the storm can you get and still stay safe? Consider both storm intensity and speed at the very minimum.
• Are there any storms nearby that could cut off possible escape routes? On a high risk day, there likely will be.

Those are just a few of the decisions you’ll need to constantly be making while you’re actively chasing a storm. Because things happen so fast, you have to constantly evaluate and adjust as needed. But where do you get this info?

Enter Weather Apps

If you’re like me, you lack the budget for the state-of-the-art technology the professional photographers and videographers use for not just storm chasing, but any outdoor adventure. Unfortunately, most weather apps (especially the free ones) don’t give you the information you need to properly plan an outdoor photo or video shoot. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck.

While there is no one “silver bullet” app that will give you all the information you need, I will be giving you the storm chaser’s toolbox of weather apps to plan your next outdoor photo shoot. You’ll be amazed at how well these weather apps work for landscape photography and travel videos. And best of all, they’re affordable. There’s no need to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars on high end software anymore.

I also want to point out that I am not affiliated with or paid by these applications in any way. This is just a collection of my favorite weather apps that I use on most of my landscape and outdoor photography and video shoots.

Weather Apps for Landscape Photography and Travel Videos

Weather is a key component of not just landscape photography, but also travel, adventure, and outdoor videography. It can make or break your shot. In fact, weather is often the difference between that awe-inspiring shot that will sell your photo or video and a visual media file that gets deleted before you even get a chance to post-process it.

No matter what type of weather you need for your shot, these apps will give you the information you need to ensure that you get the shot you want. They cover blue skies to blizzards, tornadoes to sunsets, and everything in between. Once you assemble this toolbox of weather apps for your landscape photography or travel video shoot, you will no longer need to waste time just “taking a chance” on a good sunset or an approaching storm. Instead, you’ll already be in position ready to start filming before your target weather phenomenon even arrives.

RadarScope: The Cadillac of Weather Apps

Platform: iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
$9.99 (mobile), $29.99 (desktop)

Originally developed in the weather mecca of Norman, Oklahoma, RadarScope was built with one goal in mind: to keep you safe during severe weather. It was my number one go-to app during the height of my storm chasing days nearly 10 years ago, and it remains the go-to app for storm chasers and weather enthusiasts today. Its user base now reaches much further than just the storm chasing community. And it includes both landscape photographers and travel and outdoor videographers.

RadarScope displays highly detailed doppler radar data on an easy-to-read map. Even better, they have managed to ver successfully pull off what I consider to be the Holy Grail of GIS. When you look at the screen, the map seemingly fades into the background, drawing your eye to the radar data. Yet at the same time, you can instantly tell where the severe weather is with just a quick glance. In the world of GIS, that’s an incredibly difficult thing to do, and they have pulled it off absolutely flawlessly.

In addition to viewable radar data, RadarScope comes with a plethora of features and functionalities.

Key Features of RadarScope

• GPS Support. Plot your location on the map with radar data
• Severe weather warnings displayed on the map. Tap on the warning to read the text of the warning.
• In addition to reflectivity data, it supports all types of doppler radar data, such as wind speeds, echo tops, estimated precipitation totals, and dual-pol technologies.
• Includes a distance measuring tool so you can easily see how far you are from severe weather threats or measure how high the radar beam is at any given location
• Drawing tool lets you mark up and share the radar image
• Quickly export maps and data as either animated GIFs or as still images
• Supports both metric and imperial units
• Currently supports radar in all US States and Territories, as well as Canada, Australia, several European Union nations, Japan, and South Korea.
• Pro version has even more features, such as lightning strikes, split screen comparisons, watches and mesoscale discussions, storm reports, and much more.

Nothing has proven more valuable for my storm chasing, photography, and adventures than RadarScope’s GPS feature. Being able to plot your location on the map is critical to ensure that you are in the best position to capture the shots you need for your project. Even for benign weather features such as sunsets, things happen incredibly fast once you get out in the field. You don’t want to miss your shot trying to figure out where on the map you are. RadarScope’s GPS ensures that you can reposition and make adjustments as quickly as possible.

Windy

Platform: iOS, Android, Web Browser
Free, Pro Features Available

Windy is my favorite app for viewing model data on my phone or tablet. Best suited for detailed short-term forecasting at all geographic scales, Windy has a stunning display showing atmospheric flow around the world. View real-time observed data or model predictions in four dimensions. Windy provides two-dimensional maps at numerous heights throughout the atmosphere, as well as vertical soundings and time-series point forecasts for your specific location.

Windy currently provides model predictions for four models. You can find support for the GFS (American), ECMWF (European), and NAM (North American Mesoscale) models, as well as a German model called ICON, which stands for Icosahedral Nonhydrostatic.

Key Features of Windy

• Stunningly beautiful display for analyzing data
• Huge choice of weather parameters to plot
• Data available in four dimensions and all geographic scales, including point forecasts
• View both observed data and model predictions on the same map
• Includes forecasts for airports, sports/recreation, wildfires, tides, and much more
• Bookmark your favorite locations for easy reference
• While it doesn’t support plotting your location on a map like RadarScope does, Windy does have GPS functionality that allows you to quickly and easily get data for your current location.
• Supports both metric and imperial units

Pivotal Weather

Platform: Web Browser
Free, Pro Features Available

If you’re looking for comprehensive model data, Pivotal Weather is where you need to be. Best used for both short and long-term modeling, you’ll find detailed model forecasts for over 20 global, regional, and mesoscale models. Like Windy, Pivotal Weather allows you to display data in four dimensions at all geographic scales. It works on a global scale, so you’re not restricted to specific countries or other geographic boundaries. We used Pivotal Weather extensively during our analysis of Hurricane Henri and Hurricane Ida last summer.

My favorite feature of Pivotal Weather is its high quality maps. So many weather modeling websites have such poor quality maps that it can be difficult in some situations to pin down exactly where a weather event will take place. While it’s not a big deal on a large scale, it can become a major issue once you drill down to the local level. Pivotal Weather lets you plot model data at those local levels, plus displays the predicted value as you mouse over the map.

Key Features of Pivotal Weather

• More than 20 global, regional, and mesoscale models
• Provides data worldwide
• Displays model predictions in four dimensions at all geographic scales
• Numerous choice of map scale levels
• Much higher quality maps than most weather modeling websites.
• You’ll get the best experience viewing on a computer, not a phone
• Additional features available with Pivotal Weather Plus

Federal Weather Bureaus

Platform: Web Browser
Free

How many times have you opened a free app or website and just got bombarded with ads, pop-ups, and other promotions? That’s why I often go straight to the source for weather data and information: the federal government. Because federal weather bureaus in every country are government agencies, you won’t get bombarded with all the ads, video clips, and other useless promotions you find on so many other apps and websites.

Federal weather bureaus are one-stop shopping for observations, forecasts, analysis, and past data. In addition to their own analysis, most federal weather bureaus provide the data so you can also do your own analysis. You’ll have all tools to look at all geographic scales, regardless of whether you’re looking at the entire world or your neighborhood. Use the models and forecasts to identify the best spot for your shoot. Once you get out in the field, use observations to fine-tune and adjust your strategy and location as needed.

Here are a few links to federal weather bureaus around the world. If your country is not listed below, a quick Google search will find it pretty quickly.

National Centers for Environmental Protection

Platform: Web Browser
Free

If you’re in the United States, the National Centers for Environmental Protection, or NCEP, contains all of the weather information you need to plan and execute a successful outdoor photo or video shoot. Run by NOAA and the National Weather Service, NCEP is comprised of 8 centers. While they are primarily aimed at the United States, many of them make predictions that go beyond America’s borders.

The Possibilities for Using NCEP Weather Apps for Landscape Photography and Travel Videos are Endless

The possibilities for using these weather apps for landscape photography and travel videos are endless. Use the Climate Prediction Center to look at historical weather patterns to ensure that the weather will cooperate for your shoot. For instance, you don’t want to head down to the Caribbean to film a hurricane only to find out that a strong El Niño has neutralized the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Additionally, visit the Aviation Weather Center for all your drone photography and video needs. Perhaps you want to try your hand at storm chasing? In that case, the Storm Prediction Center has all of the information you need. Likewise, use the Space Weather Prediction Center to plan your Aurora Borealis or astrophotography shoot. The list goes on and on.

I could write an entire blog post on NCEP alone, but you get the idea.

NOAA High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) Model

If RadarScope is my favorite weather app to use in the field for landscape photography and travel videos, then NOAA’s HRRR model is its best compliment. Excelling in day-of-event modeling and forecasting, use the HRRR to anticipate any adjustments you’ll need to make in your shoot. Its 3 km resolution is fine enough to resolve most individual thunderstorms, making it an incredibly powerful tool for outdoor photography and videos. As a result, it has never let me down in every storm chase I’ve taken part in since 2011.

For example, consider a simple sunset shoot. Sounds easy enough, right? Conditions in the morning look perfect for a spectacular sunset. Unfortunately, you are completely unaware a storm system is moving in from the southwest. Thick clouds will cover the western sky, completely obscuring the sunset.

Thankfully, you have been monitoring the HRRR throughout the day. As a result, you see that your original plan for a spectacular sunset will go down in flames. Additionally, you see that the spectacular sunset will occur about 70 miles up the coast. You adjust your plan accordingly, leaving an hour earlier so you can get up the coast in time for sunset.

Most importantly, though, you capture one of the best sunsets you’ve ever seen. As soon as the prints hit your online store, they start selling like hot cakes. Imagine how different things would have turned out if you hadn’t been able to anticipate that storm system coming in.

Use the HRRR for All Types of Outdoor Photography and Videos

The HRRR includes highly detailed information for every type of outdoor photography or videography. That’s what makes it so powerful. You’ll be able to use it for everything from sunsets to winter weather, fire weather to space weather, and lightning to beach photography.

Next week, we’ll cover the HRRR model in detail. You’ll learn how to use the HRRR to apply storm chasing strategy to your outdoor photography and videography. After that, you’ll be armed with the tools you need to take your landscape photography and travel videos to the next level.

How Will You Use Weather Apps for Your Landscape Photography and Outdoor Shoots?

Weather is an often mundane part of our everyday lives. However, once you get out in the field to film it, weather seems to happen extremely fast. They key to success with any type of outdoor photography or videography is to stay ahead of the weather. These weather apps provide you with the toolset you need to take your landscape photography, travel videos, and other outdoor media to the next level. Use them responsibly, and always keep safety in mind first.

Do you want more photography and video tips and tutorials? Please sign up for our email list. We’ll send them to your inbox, twice per month, all for free.

The post 6 Powerful Weather Apps for Stunning Landscape Photography appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

According to Google, users upload over 500 hours of video content to YouTube alone every minute. And that was in May, 2019. That number has only increased since the COVID-19 pandemic locked the world down last year. The potential return on investment for videos has near limitless potential. Amazingly, video marketing statistics in 2021 fully back that statement up, too.

Unfortunately, far too many businesses and organizations are missing out on the incredible potential of videos. It usually boils down to a small handful of reasons.

• They don’t have the time to produce videos
• It’s too expensive
• They don’t know where to start

Yes, videos can take a significant investment of both time and money. I’ll be the first to admit that I have used all of those excuses in the past. However, those costs have come way down from what they were just five or ten years ago. Barriers to entry are lower than they’ve ever been. As a result, it’s easier than ever to get started with video and reap its incredible rewards.

So what exactly are you missing out on? Let’s dive right in.

Elevate Your Brand Awareness

Video is by far the most effective medium through which to tell your story. The strategy is simple. Promotional and marketing videos should tell a story because nobody wants to hear a sales pitch. Sharing a story with your audience engages them at a much deeper level and results in a much more authentic connection with you.

Take it a step further. Introduce yourself in a video that explains your organization’s mission or values. Give your audience a window into your operations with a behind-the-scenes video. Show them why you do things they way you do. Finally, create a hands-on tutorial video that shows your audience both how to use your product and get the most value from it.

Even better, raise awareness for a cause you’re passionate about. Find a charity that supports that cause and team up to make a video about it. Your organization will gain the positive publicity for supporting the charity, and the charity will get a boost in donations. It’s a win-win for everyone.

• 96% of marketers claim that video has helped increase customers’ understanding of their product or service.
• 92% of mobile users shared videos with others.
• 78% of all internet users watch videos online every week. Of those people, 55% watch videos every day.
• By 2022, 82% of all consumer traffic will be from videos.
• In 2020, 69% of all non-video marketers expect to start using video as a tool for marketing in 2021.

Boost Your Sales with a Solid Video Strategy

If your sales strategy does not involve video, you could be missing out on significant amounts of possible revenue. Like we discussed in the previous section, you want to tell a story again here. Be honest and authentic. If you overhype your product or come across like a used car salesman, people will see right through it.

Instead of just listing off the benefits of your product, show your audience how your products have brought real-world results to your clients. For an even more credible connection with your audience, have your client appear in the video and offer a short testimonial. Without proof to back up your claims, nobody will believe you.

• 72% of customers prefer learning about a product or service they’re interested in buying through a video. That same group also prefers watching a how-to video over reading a user manual.
• 84% of marketers say that videos have helped them generate leads.
• 78% of marketers claim video has directly helped increase sales.
• 43% of marketers state that video has reduced the number of support calls they have received.
• 84% of consumers state that a brand’s videos have convinced them to make a purchase.

Consumers Retain Information in Videos Better Than Any Other Medium

Let’s do a little social experiment here. Put down this article for a second and go open the news feed on your favorite social media platform. Scroll through the top 20 or 30 posts in your news feed. How many of those posts are videos? I’d bet the majority of them are. On some platforms, they all are.

Now scroll through that same news feed again, but look at the sponsored posts or advertisements. You’ll likely find that an even higher percentage use videos. It turns out there’s some rather fascinating psychology behind how we absorb content to learn and make decisions. The 20/40/80 Rule lies at the heart of that psychology.

According to the 20/40/80 Rule, we retain:

• 20% of what we hear
• 40% of what we hear and see
• 80% of what we hear, see, and do

If you’ve ever used any of my tutorials, you’ll notice that they always have a hands-on part. The 20/40/80 Rule is the reason why. You retain so much more information when you can work firsthand with the material.

• According to a recent survey, media consumers claim that they can retain 95% of a message that is delivered via video.
• 85% of marketers say that video is an effective way to raise awareness online.

Consumers Prefer Video Over Any Other Medium

I remember when Facebook first allowed users to post photos. That update laid the foundation for what social media is today. While photos and infographics were the dominant medium for much of its first decade on social media, the landscape has undergone a rapid shift over the past 5-plus years. During that time, video has become the most popular, and most powerful medium. And it reaches far beyond social media platforms.

• 85% of consumers would like to see more video from their favorite brands in 2021.
• More than 99% of marketers surveyed say they’ll continue using video in 2021. And 96% of that group will either increase (67%) or maintain (29%) their 2020 spending levels.
• In 2020, video overtook blogs and infographics to become the #1 form of media used in content strategy.
• 88% of executives and managers claim that video improves efficiency in the workplace.
• 54% of consumers want to see more video content from brands they support.

Video Platforms

When you think of video platforms, YouTube is probably the first one that comes to mind. After Google acquired YouTube in 2006, it has been the go-to video sharing platform for so many people. YouTubers consume over 1 billion hours of content every day.

YouTube is far from the only video sharing platform. You can choose from plenty of both free and paid video sharing platforms, such as Vimeo, DailyMotion, or Twitch. Additionally, you can host videos on your own website, but you can run into bandwidth issues if you have any significant traffic.

As powerful as YouTube is, if you want to maximize the potential return on your videos, social media is the place to be. While I am not one to hold back explaining how much social media repulses me, it’s a necessary evil when it comes to running your business.

• 87% of video marketers report having used YouTube in the past year.
• The most effective video marketing channel is the webinar. In 2020, 91% of webinar hosts say they’ve been a success.
• 58% of consumers visit a company’s social media pages before visiting their website.
• Social media as drove a 24% increase in consumers making purchases in 2020 compared to 2019.

Conclusion

Video is one of the most powerful tools available to grow your business or organization. With fewer and fewer barriers to entry, there is no excuse not to be using videos as part of your business or marketing strategy. In today’s media-rich world, your clients and customers don’t just want to see videos, they expect to.

One of my primary goals for the second half of 2021 and into 2022 is to create much more video content. I’ll be launching tutorials and online courses, and am hoping to create a travel series once COVID-19 restrictions are fully lifted and we’re free to go explore the world.

If you want to get started taking advantage of the incredible potential of video media, our professional video packages start at just $199. Or, if you just want some more information, please drop us an email or book a free info session. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sources

The statistics given in this report are from 2019 and 2020 and were sourced from Wyzowl, Animoto, and Social Media Week.

Top Photo: Pacific Ocean Waves Crash Along Rugged Coastal Cliffs
Newport, Oregon – August, 2017

The post Are You Missing Out on the Incredible Potential of Video? appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

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With the Adventure Series, I invite you to come along as we set out to capture some of the most beautiful locales across Arizona from the most unique, off-the-beaten-path perspectives as possible. From the most well-known landmarks to the most remote backcountry scenic drives, we will see it all. By combining my photography and videography efforts, I hope you can enjoy a truly authentic experience as we travel, explore, and film not just Arizona, but also the surroundings states, as well as parts of Mexico.

You can watch and Subscribe to my YouTube Channel here, or feel free to stay on the site and view photos from the adventures.

Here are just a few of the locations I have planned for the Adventure Series:

• The Mogollon Rim
• Several breathtaking unique locations around and inside of the Grand Canyon
• Humphrey’s Peak (tallest point in Arizona)
• Meteor Crater
• Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
• Valley of the Gods, Utah
• Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico
• Sedona’s Red Rock Country

The post New Adventure Series Has Launched appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

A Few Observations from the Thunderstorms

As I’m sure you know, the dynamics inside of thunderstorms are quite complex. These storms provided a very unique observation of mid-level temperature advection that could be seen by simply looking out the window. A light snow had been falling for much of the day prior to the thunderstorms arriving. As the thunderstorms passed overhead, the snow would change over to sleet and drastically increase in intensity. As soon as the thunderstorms passed, the sleet would lighten up and then change back over to snow. The process would repeat as the next cell approached. Exactly why this happens will be covered in later posts.

Even though the outer edges of these thunderstorms just skirted the south side of Norman (the cores of the storms passed between Norman and Purcell), we still got some impressive sleet totals. I measured close to 2 inches of sleet on my back patio from these storms, and I would guess that Noble and Purcell saw even more.

Thundersleet Accumulations on My Patio

Coming Up Next: Analysis of the Setup and the Thunderstorms

In my next post(s), I will dive into some deeper analysis of the meteorological setup that caused the thunderstorms to form, as well what caused the transition to sleet as the thunderstorms passed. Both of these topics are quite fascinating, so stay tuned in the coming days.

The post Oklahoma Thundersleet Part 1: Video and Observations appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.