Artbeats’ Top Selling Clips of 2014

January 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment

This is our second annual roundup of the most popular shots sold last year. I’ll count down from number 10.

  1. Churning Storm Cloud: D001-C043B
    Shot from beneath a tornado-warned supercell, these churning clouds made me want to run for cover. This is why I love shooting supercells, the cloud rotation makes for very unusual and beautiful shots. This huge storm produced a tornado about 15 miles to the south, too far away to reach in time to get a shot.

    D001-C043B: Time-lapse supercell storm cloud

    D001-C043B: Time-lapse supercell storm cloud

  1. Aerial of NYC Financial District: NYC209
    This footage was captured in 2006 but is still incredibly popular. Shot with the Sony F950 in the Gyron gyrostabilizer gimbal.
NYC209: Looking down into Wall Street area.

NYC209: Looking down into Wall Street area.

 

  1. Colorado Supercell Storm: EST104
    Another tornado-warned storm, this footage shows impressive cloud rotation and is punctuated with a dramatic lightning strike. This clip is from the Epic Storms collection where you can find many more breathtaking storm shots.

    EST104: TIme-lapse swirling dark gray supercell cloud with lightning and rain over a prairie landscape.

    EST104: Swirling dark gray supercell cloud with lightning and rain over a prairie landscape, time lapse

 

  1. Large Container Ship Flyover: 004-C078
    In the summer of 2010, Artbeats did a helicopter shoot of the beautiful coast of Catalina Island. On the way back across the water to LA, we saw this cargo ship steaming south. It is ironic that it became more popular than all the shots we took of Catalina. At 55 seconds in length, this is the longest clip in the top 10.

    004-C078: Close flight over a container ship in open ocean.

    004-C078: Close flight over a container ship in open ocean.

     

  1. Highway Flyover: A113-C021C
    This lonely highway winding through a forest west of Providence, Rhode Island, was shot with a RED Epic in the fall of 2011. It is over 40 seconds long, which gives an editor lots of options for finding the perfect sweet spot.

    A113-C021C: Following a highway through a forest west of Providence, Rhode Island.

    A113-C021C: Following a highway through a forest west of Providence, Rhode Island.

     

  1. Washington DC Capitol and Mall: A122-C050B
    Flying south looking west over the Capitol building, this shot can represent political power, military might, an evening at the Smithsonian or traditional love of country.

    A122-C050B: Orbiting Capitol Hill at night; Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in rear, Library of Congress in left foreground as clip ends.

    A122-C050B: Orbiting Capitol Hill at night; Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in rear, Library of Congress in left foreground as clip ends.

     

  1. San Quentin Reveal: DHJT100-09
    Opened in 1952, it is the oldest prison in California, located just north of San Francisco. This Maximum-security penitentiary has a stated capacity of 3,082 inmates, yet has a population of 4,233.

    DHJT100-09: Flying over the water and across San Quentin Prison yard.

    DHJT100-09: Flying over the water and across San Quentin Prison yard.

     

  1. Sunrise From Space: RBL217
    An image from the very popular Orbital 2 Collection, and a great way to establish the start of a new day. To see more images like these, view all three Orbital Collections.

    RBL217: Sunrise over Earth as if seen from space shuttle.

    RBL217: Sunrise over Earth as if seen from space shuttle.

     

  1. Sunlit Earth Limb: RBL205
    The popularity of this clip is due to its generic nature. Beautiful and timeless, the image can represent many things, from global concepts, to time-of-day to a background plate that can be layered with a satellite.

    RBL205: Clouds over sea and islands as if viewed from space.

    RBL205: Clouds over sea and islands as if viewed from space.

     

  1. Washington DC Capitol: A123-C030
    This beautiful daytime aerial shows the capitol dome surrounded by museums and other government buildings including Library of Congress, which sits in the foreground. This view clearly displays the height limit restrictions of buildings built in DC. We were thankful as this makes shooting the capitol dome easy from anywhere in the city. To see more Washington DC aerials, click this link.

    A123-C030: Dome of the US Capitol and surroundings, Washington DC

    A123-C030: Dome of the US Capitol and surroundings, Washington DC

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Encounter with a Tornado

July 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

eNews Headline Image June 2014wAuthor

I am not superstitious but I find it interesting that my first encounter with a tornado happened on Friday, June 13th near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming.

My storm chasing trip started June 9th when I flew to Minneapolis to meet up with partners, Skip Talbot, forecaster and professional chaser (http://www.skip.cc/), and Jennifer Brindley, also a chaser and professional photographer (http://jenniferbrindleyphotography.com/storms/). This was to be an amazing eight-day adventure where we would see no fewer than six tornados.

Jennifer Brindley and Skip Talbot in front of Devil’s Tower (the site of the Close Encounter’s close encounter)

Jennifer Brindley and Skip Talbot in front of Devil’s Tower (the site of the Close Encounter’s close encounter)

On this day, the storm we would chase was expected to initiate in the late afternoon, so we took some time to hike and take a sightseeing trip to Devil’s Tower. Sure enough, by 4pm, a large storm sprang to life just west of Hulett, Wyoming and the chase was on.

Tornados typically form under the updraft base of a supercell thunderstorm. This is typically seen as a cloud lowering on the southern portion of the storm. As the base begins to rotate, a “hook” shape often forms on radar. This is a radar image of the storm taken from my phone as we made our approach (Yes, there’s an app for that!).

Tornados form under the updraft base of a supercell thunderstorm. This is typically seen as a cloud lowering on the southern portion of the storm. As the base begins to rotate, a “hook” shape often forms on radar. This is a radar image of the storm taken from my phone as we made our approach (Yes, there’s an app for that!).

Normally, when chasing storms in the Plain States, we are in open country, but this storm was maturing in the hilly country of the Bear Lodge Mountains. Very few highways intersect this area but we found a spot on Highway 24 about 15 miles southeast of Hulett. Our vantage point gave us a view to the northwest where the storm had just become Severe-Warned. The track of the storm was eastward, so it would likely make a close pass to our north.

Here I am filming the storm as it approached from the northwest. Skip Talbot is standing next to me. Photo by Jennifer Brindley.

Here I am filming the storm as it approached from the northwest. Skip Talbot is standing next to me. Photo by Jennifer Brindley.

The sky became dark and ominous, and the storm, which was now officially Tornado-Warned, showed obvious rotation at its base. Wind started gusting around us, and as the updraft base came closer  it became hidden by the foreground hills to our north. Little did we know that a strong tornado was at the heart of this rotating cloud. Soon it became obvious that the storm was becoming increasingly violent. White clouds were whipping across the ridge to our north. We felt a blast of hot air, then heard an unearthly crackling roar, both being signs that a tornado is very close. Strong winds forced me to move my camera to the shelter of the van.

Jennifer Brindley catches me moving the camera out of the wind.

Jennifer Brindley catches me moving the camera out of the wind.

 

This clip shows the rotating cloud to our north at its closest point.

Rotating Cloud (720p version)

We continued to be battered by winds that were as strong as any I have felt in my life, winds at our back that were attempting to draw us toward the storm. We felt another blast of hot air. Skip assured us that we were perfectly safe in this location.

Can you see the dark funnel shape in the center of this contrast-enhanced image?

Can you see the dark funnel shape in the center of this contrast-enhanced image?

This composite image shows our location southeast of Hulett, and the radar signature of the tornado at its beginning and at its end, with the white line connecting the two showing a possible path.

This composite image shows our location southeast of Hulett, and the radar signature of the tornado at its beginning and at its end, with the white line connecting the two showing a possible path.

Soon the winds died down as the storm passed to our northeast. As we drove away, Skip commented that we didn’t see a tornado, we experienced it. That sums it up nicely.  It was later classified as a strong EF-2 with winds of up to 120mph and a track of 18 miles. Fortunately it passed over sparsely populated country so there was no loss of life and only one injury. It did destroy a mobile home, several outbuildings, and mowed down a significant number of large ponderosa pine trees.

Damage photos from the Crook County Tornado

Damage photos from the Crook County Tornado

Damage photos from the Crook County Tornado

Damage photos from the Crook County Tornado

Damage photos from the Crook County Tornado

Damage photos from the Crook County Tornado

Damage photos from the Crook County Tornado

Damage photos from the Crook County Tornado

This was to be the first tornado encounter in an amazing storm chasing trip and was an experience I will never forget. Over the next few months, we’ll be doing the post work on the footage shot on the Epic, and we’ll make it available as soon as possible. There is so much I want to share, plus more tornado stories will be coming in future Artbeats eNewsletters, so stay tuned!

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