You don’t need to watch the classic 1996 film Twister to understand that storm chasing is risky, life-threatening work; but that didn’t prevent WXChasing’s Brandon Clement from honing in on a tornado located near Sulphur, Oklahoma, and capturing some epic 4k footage with a drone.
‘I’ve been working on getting that shot for about three years now,’ said Clement to the Washington Post. Clement has been chasing storms since childhood. ‘I’ve probably done a half-million miles chasing across the country by now. But this one is pretty special.’
According to reports from AccuWeather, at least 25 tornadoes were reported across southern and central United States on Tuesday including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. Clement happened to be in the path of the non-destructive occurrence in Oklahoma and expertly maneuvered the drone to capture a perspective that impressed meteorologists.
Easily some of the most incredible tornado footage I’ve ever seen.pic.twitter.com/4et3NvVIPD
— Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) April 30, 2019
FStoppers pointed out that the last time such poignant footage was captured, it came from the perspective of a helicopter over three decades ago. KARE helicopter pilot Max Messmer, along with photographer Tom Empey, stumbled upon a forming tornado and broadcast the entire phenomenon live during the 5 o’clock news.
While tornadoes have been captured from the perspective of a drone before, this is the first time a remote pilot has created something that transcends the typical, static imagery taken from a distance.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)