You're driving home from work and notice the sky seems to be getting a bit darker. You figure it's just going to rain, and that's good because your brown lawn really needs it. You get home, turn on the TV for a quick weather update and you're greeted with video of a wicked storm, violently rotating and heading your way! While you run screaming like a little girl into the 'fraidy hole, you are probably wondering how the TV station was able to get that video on the air so quick! Well in most cases that footage is obtained by an experienced storm chaser who's out there for the love of storms and whose actions could help save your life.

David Drummond knows storms. He seeks them out because of his love of all-things-weather and he's turned that passion into a business. David took some time to answer a few questions for DV Guru readers about shooting video and storm chasing:

How long have you been storm chasing?

I've been chasing storms in some form or fashion on the U.S. Southern Plains since the mid 1980s. That's a long time! I've been making a career out of it for the last 4 years. In the down times between weather events, I also manage a Web Hosting and Web Design business.

You've been able to build a business around your passion for storms. Tell us a little about that.

Basically what Dryline Media (myself and a few others at this point) does is primarily provide local, national and international news networks with extreme weather video. That could be covering severe storms, hurricanes, snowstorms, or even just heatwaves. There is weather every day, even if it's nice. :-)

We generally deal with NBC NewsChannel, ABC, FOX, CNN and The Weather Channel. We have also worked with Granada Television in the UK. We also provide stock video to various production companies such as Indigo Films and Pioneer Productions that create shows that you often see on cable networks like The Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and the well known Storm Stories on The Weather Channel.

On a more local level, I provide storm chasing services for the local NBC affiliate, KCBD NewsChannel 11. When not in the local area we have the ability to do the same service on a moments notice for just about any local TV station, and have done some things for shows like Good Morning America. These types of things are known in the business as "stringers" and we basically can provide near real time video as well as live cell phone reports on the air.
Let's talk about some of the equipment you use while out in the field. What type of camcorder do you use?

Up until now, we have kept the equipment cost on the minimalist side basically due to the abuse we put the equipment through. It's not so bad to trash a $300 camera in a dust storm as it is to trash a $3000+ camera. We were also considering tape costs, and have stuck to Digital8 thus far. It produces an acceptable image for TV producers to use and is cheap. For a long time we have used my favorite camera, a Sony TRV-520. This camera is a real workhorse and takes a huge amount of abuse. We have used various Canon and Panasonic cameras as well and always come back to the Sony line.

This next season however, we are finally going to move up into prosumer cameras with Sony VX2100 cameras exclusively. Our standards for production quality has risen to a new level and I am just not satisfied with Digital8 any longer. All of the producers we work with don't mind if we keep using the format, but we will certainly move up in quality and that's always a good thing.

Do you have any special gear to keep the camera protected while out in severe weather?

In that past, as I mentioned, we stuck with cheaper cameras, so it wasn't of the greatest concern. Generally, doing things like parking under a covering, using umbrellas, even using the vehicle to block the wind. All very low tech stuff. When we move to the VX2100 cameras, we will also be using camera jackets made to protect these cameras. We will probably even use the lower end underwater bags available for these to protect in high dust or heavy rain situations. When moving up to higher-priced cameras, naturally we need to take more steps to protect the investment.

Things happen fast when chasing storms and sometimes there is not enough time to stop and get the shot. A setup that really helps the storm chaser is the dash cam. What kind of camera do you use for a dash cam and how do you mount it inside the vehicle?

Currently, we are using RAM mounts. This is a widely available ball type mount, and it's very sturdy and versatile. It can even be used for mounting a laptop. We use the same Digital8 Sony cameras on the dash and the RAM mounts have tripod heads exactly like the tripods we use in the field so we can move the cameras from one location to the other with ease.

However, once we move to the VX2100 cameras, we will most likely have a dedicated Sony TRV520 solely for dash use.



OK, so you're on the storm and you've got the video. How do you get the footage to the station?

None of the technology we use is proprietary nor particularly advanced. Basically, we shoot the footage and capture it into an HP ZV6000 laptop computer via firewire to preserve the digital quality. Then we edit it using Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 non-linear editing software and export it out to whatever format we are working with that day. We then use an Internet connection, either through a wireless card using a cell network, or through a high speed wifi hotspot, to FTP the video file to the receiving station or network.

How fast are you able to get footage to the station?

This varies by who is getting it and what we are doing with it. Local stations usually need it as fast as possible and are willing to sacrifice some quality to get it on the air ASAP. They only need a few seconds of video, like 15 seconds. Usually we just capture a short amount which often doesn't even need editing other than chopping it down for time and then encode it using a widely available codec. We usually use web compression which makes a small video file for a 15 second shot allowing us to send it in just a couple of minutes, even over a slow cell phone connection.

I have a long firewire cable and sometimes I can do a "live" quickshot, capturing what the camera sees straight into the computer. When everything works right, I can have a shot like that to them ready to air in less than 5 minutes.

Now for network stuff, they need higher quality MPEG and usually they get that in 30-45 second chunks, which can result in a significant file size. For those we usually have to locate a high speed WIFI hotspot to send those files up as they can range from 100-300 megs in size. For stuff like this, times can vary between 1 hour or longer depending mostly on how fast we can get a WIFI connection. In certain circumstances we can also hook up through a local station and do satellite feeds.

Coming in 2007, we will be upgrading at least one chase unit to have it's own satellite feed, and that will greatly decrease the times for the larger file feeds as we will be able to do that from anywhere.

Are you able to do live streaming?

We have been experimenting with some stuff, but because of some non disclosure agreements, I can't really give all the details at this time, but it looks like we will be able to do some limited live streaming depending on the area. There is technology available to do it obviously, but for many of the smaller market areas, being able to do it mobile all the time is still a stumbling block. Keep in mind that some of the places we chase in are extremely rural areas. Even digital phone service is not available in some of these areas yet.

Again, with the upgrading of one unit to satellite communications, it will be able to definitely do live streaming from anywhere in the U.S.

Everything we hear these days in the video world is all about HD. Do you have any plans to move to HD?

I have looked at doing HD and I am very impressed with some of it. We will certainly make that move, especially if the producers we work with dictate that they want it. My concerns at this point are having expensive cameras in the abuse we put them through, but the prices are coming down for sure, and as they do, it's going to make it difficult to resist moving to HD.

Is all of your video available for purchase as stock footage?

Absolutely. Just about every second we shoot is available for stock usage. I have some things planned for the Dryline Media website where stock footage will be able to be purchased directly from the site. Everything from big tornadoes to time lapse storms, to just people walking in the rain.



You've shot tons of footage over the years. Do you have an archiving and cataloging system that you follow?

I have the original tape of every single bit of footage I ever shot back as far as the mid 90s. Back in those days we shot on VHS and VHS-C and sadly I lost a tremendous amount of non-replaceable footage in a fire.

Currently I have an ongoing project where I am taking every single tape, capturing it, and doing rough edits to cut out the fluff. You know, the stuff where you put the camera down and accidentally left it on, that sort of stuff. Once that is cut out, I am cutting it into 20 minute segments and archiving that in raw .avi files on data DVDs. I am cataloging this as I go. This gives me the ability to grab a DVD, move the footage over to a hard drive quickly and work with it any way I need to.

I also have plans, as the prices of some of these huge hard drives keep falling, to purchase several 500 GB hard drives and putting all of those files that are being archived on DVD on to those drives. Using a hot swap hard drive enclosure will make retrieving those very easy. This also gives me two backup copies aside from the original tapes which will probably outlast the tapes themselves. I almost NEVER reuse a tape. Tapes are too cheap to take the chance.

Do you have any tips for shooting weather?

The best thing I could tell anyone is to steady your shot. Either use a tripod, or brace against something, brace the camera, something. I have been known to use the vehicle, a fence post, a pole or just about anything when I couldn't get a tripod out quick to brace with. Bracing your shots alone will improve your shooting quality 1000%

While the wild and crazy all over the place shots with all the yelling in the background will get 15 seconds of fame on TV, producers actually prefer people who can consistently provide good steady shots. Watching cameras moving all over the place can make some people sick. Even a cheap tripod from Walmart is preferable than no tripod at all.

Shooting weather video is actually quite easy if you have the nerves and stomach for it. You have to be prepared for all sorts of uncomfortable shooting situations. Finding the shots is the hard part, and that's where the storm chasing comes in.

Oh, and one good tip that has cost me several cameras when I forget it.... Never, ever leave your camera alone on a tripod near a storm! Sudden blasts of high winds often happen and can put that nice camera lens down in the ground very quick!

We both know storm chasing can be extremely dangerous. Even the most experienced chaser can find themselves in trouble. What advice would you give to someone who is considering weather videography?

If you are going to attempt storm chasing to shoot video, do yourself a favor and take some SKYWARN Spotter classes from the National Weather Service first, and do some reading up on the web about storm structure and behavior. Severe storms and hurricanes can easily kill you if you're not prepared for what they bring. Storm Chasers often make it look easy on camera, but it's very difficult to actually find and shoot a tornado. And that is if you survived the ungodly amounts of driving and endless hours of waiting for storms to pop.



A big thank you to David for taking the time to talk video and storm chasing. Storm chasing requires thousands of miles on the road and hours of waiting just to get "the" shot. Please remember this if you see a storm chaser out on the plains, camera pointing toward the storm. Don't stop your vehicle right in front of the camera, blocking the shot, and please try not engage in conversation while the camera is running. Audio is a big part of the storm video experience.

You can find out more about David and his team from the NewsChannel 11 website, which includes video of the team in action and a tour of the chase van with all those wonderful toys. You can also checkout his websites, Dryline Media and Tornado Vortex Signature.