Today it is with great pleasure that we invite Bastian Werner to share his experiences with photographing the weather. Let’s find out a little more about the man behind Bastian Werner Photography.
NiSi : Would you please kindly introduce yourself?
B: Of course! I’m a 24 year old weather photographer from Germany. I have dedicated my life to photographing weather. Since 2011 I have traveled through our country to take the best possible pictures of weather phenomena. Thunderstorms are my subject of choice. There is nothing to describe the feeling you have when one of those black monsters in the sky is chasing you.
NiSi S5 +CPL+Soft GND 1.2 Bastian Werner
NiSi: Can you tell us when you began your photographic journey and what inspired you to do so ?
B:I took my first pictures of storms just for documentation. Nothing special. With time I developed the idea to show people the beauty of the weather around them. Until this day, that is my motivation ; to chase and photograph the weather.
NiSi S5 + Soft GND 1.2 Bastian Werner
NiSi: What motivates you about capturing storms ? Is there something special about them or are there other reasons?
B: Everything about it is special. For every storm, there is no second chance. It exists for only a few hours. After that, it’s gone forever. So when you are the only person to have a good picture of one storm, nobody else will ever recreate your work. Then there is the environment of the stormchaser community. My team is full of shared memories. There is a danger in what we do which is always in our minds like big hail, windstorms or tornados.
NiSi S5 + Soft GND 1.2 Bastian Werner
Q4:Could you please share the story behind this scene ?
NiSi S5 + Soft GND 1.2 Bastian Werner
B:This was one of my best storms form 2017! I chased it through the half of Germany until my teammate and I finally managed to get in front of it. The storm developed near the town of Kassel and travelled to Dresden. We started at Frankfurt am Main, and after three and a half hours of travelling the Autobahn we finally caught it. Because you don’t have much time to take pictures, I used the soft graduated ND 1.2 to get more contrast into the clouds.
Q5: What is your impression of the NiSi Natural night filter? Is it a great filter to help you to capture certain weather phenomena?
NiSi S5 + Natural Night Bastian Werner
B:Yes! I can’t choose where the storms will take place, so I often have problems with light pollution, which turns the clouds yellow. The Nisi natural night filter keeps them neutral.
Q6: Could you please share some skills and tips about how to capture the extreme weather ?
B:I will share something about shooting a lightning storm at night. Because it is really complex to chase storms, I have written a whole book about it.
When you shoot lightning, keep the ISO low! Lightning strikes are really bright. Keep the aperture closed when the storm is near. Sometimes you have to use f/16! When the lightning is far away, open the aperture. Just put the camera on your tripod with a 30s exposure time. When a lighting strike occurs, you will capture it.
Q7: What are your plans for photography in 2018 ?
In 2018 I will travel to plenty different countries, but my biggest tour will be a visit to the USA for stormchasing. Finally, I will live my dream to see the biggest storms you can get!
NiSi S5 +CPL+Soft GND 1.2 Bastian Werner
