Most mornings begin early, often before sunrise, with coffee in hand and weather models already open. We review overnight data, satellite trends, and updated forecasts to identify where storms are most likely to initiate and how they may evolve through the afternoon and evening. Targets can shift by hundreds of miles overnight. That flexibility is built into the workshop by design.

By mid-morning, we’re rolling. The van becomes a mobile planning room, maps open, radar running, and constant reassessment underway. Some days involve long transits to reach the best air mass. Other days require patience, waiting near boundaries where storms are expected to fire later in the afternoon.

Once storms begin to develop, everything accelerates.

We position deliberately, prioritizing structure, light, road options, and safety. You’ll shoot wide to capture the scale of a storm, then tighten down with telephoto lenses to isolate details in the structure, rain curtains, lightning cores, or rotating features. This is where experience matters. Knowing when to stay put and when to move is the difference between chaos and control.

As storms mature, we adapt. Rapid roadside setups are common. Conditions change quickly. A storm that looks benign can become photogenic in minutes, or a promising cell can collapse just as fast. When relocation is required, we move decisively and with purpose.

Evenings often stretch late.

If lightning or night structure is in play, we may continue well after dark, adjusting locations to balance composition, storm behavior, and safety. On rare nights when conditions align, we plan for high-altitude lightning and sprite opportunities, staying alert long after most people have called it a day.

Hotel arrivals are frequently late. Some nights you’ll fall asleep replaying the day’s images in your head. Other nights, you’ll upload files in silence, knowing you were exactly where you needed to be when the sky delivered.

There is no script. No guarantees. Just informed decisions, constant adaptation, and as much time as possible in front of storms that most people only ever see from a distance.

That’s the chase.