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Stunning Time-Lapse Video Captures the Beauty of Swirling Stormy Skies

By Emma Taggart on August 12, 2019

Photographer and filmographer Mike Olbinski shoots weddings year-round, but he also embraces the outdoors to capture swirling stormy skies in springtime. The avid storm chaser recently released Vorticity 2—a stunning time-lapse video comprising 122,000 frames captured over 54 days over almost 40,000 miles across America during the spring months of 2018 and 2019.

“I made the tough decision last year to save everything I shot that spring and combine it with whatever storms I captured in 2019 and make the best possible time-lapse film I could,” reveals Olbinski. “It was incredibly difficult to sit on that collection of footage for over a year, but I'm glad I did. When you've done a few of these, at some point you gotta work even harder to top yourself and I did my best to make that happen.” The talented time-lapse artist’s hard work certainly paid off. The resulting short film showcases the mesmerizing, billowing storm clouds, swirling cyclones, and electric fork lightning sequences from some of America's most significant storms. Olbinski says, “My storm chaser friends will recognize some memorable supercell/tornado events like Tescott, Tahoka, McCook, Hoisington, Cope, Imperial, Quinter, and Denver City (my personal favorite).”

The stunning visuals are made all the more powerful with accompanying music by Luke Atencio. His cinematic tones add drama to each scene, creating the sense that human beings are at the whim of these almighty storms. “None of these clips would come alive without the right music and I searched and searched and searched for months until landing on the right tracks back in May,” says Olbinski. “Luke Atencio has such a gift and two of his songs were blended to create the track for this film.”

Watch the incredible Vorticity 2 film below and check out more of Olbinski’s projects on his website.