Photography displays dangers of storm chasing

Not many people want to be anywhere near a tornado.  

But Stephen Eric Levine lives for such tense moments. He's one of those daring individuals known as a storm chaser who tracks dangerous weather conditions and casts himself into harm's way.

Levine was on campus Oct. 19 to present some storytelling and storm photography in the Lago Vista Gallery. He's been chasing storms since 1977, but his interest in them began much earlier.

"When I was 2, I would lie on my back when the thunderheads would come up and especially when you see them hit the sun," he said.  "The shadows would spew across the sky. The rims looked like fire. You would hear the rumbles of thunder within the curlicues of the clouds."                                       

From this point on, Levine said he felt God's presence.

"I still feel it today," Levine said.

Levine works on the Richland campus as an academic adviser, but when he's not here, much of the time he's out chasing storms. He's also a poet, storyteller, musician and has published a book titled, "Birthing Your Life's Dream," published in 2007.

The last time Levine chased a storm he said, "I drove to an open field to see the lightning. Lightning fascinates me. It's just wonderful."

Levine has chased four varieties of dangerous storms:  tornadoes, hurricanes, snow storms and thunderstorms. However, lightning never fails to amaze him.

Levine had a storm-chasing company for 10 years called Tornado Alley Safari, which received international publicity.

"I had a total of about 20 clients. They paid $1,000 to go on the road and chase storms," he said. "While it was happening, it paid well. I started out from scratch."

After 10 years, though, Levine said he was burned out with the driving, weather forecasting and customer service. His advice to others who may be attracted to this unusual field is that it's hard to support yourself because there's a lot of overhead. But there are companies still doing it.

Levine finds storms by looking at the sky or watching the weather systems and figuring out where the best region is; where storms could develop. He always drives and likes East Texas because of the lightning.

"They get more storms than we do," Levine said. "I like Tornado Alley – Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma."

About the only weather events Levine says he has no interest in photographing are tsunamis and earthquakes.

One of Levine's missions is to travel around the country and give presentations on storm photography.  That idea is based on his specific motto:  "Good storms are like hot romance. The wilder the better, as long as it's safe."

As to what inspires Levine, he said he is into personal growth.

A psychic once told him that he needed to write a book that was going to make a difference in people's lives.

"I asked the spirit what that would be," he said. "The book channeled through in months. That's one of the missions with this here – helping people to follow their dreams."

When Levine was a child, he said he was "ruthlessly teased and isolated" for following his dream and had zero friends in grades 3 and 4.

"Everybody laughed at me. I went from that to international media publicity for the very thing I was teased ruthlessly about. I never let anyone talk me out of my dream," he said.

Levine has two other missions based on his storm photography.

One of them concerns the following:  "All the beauty you see outside of you also lies within,"  which he says means what people see in his photographs lies within them.

If one gets excited about a sunset, lightning storm or tornado, then that magnificence, splendor and beauty lies within each of us.

Another mission Levine said he has is, "to start thinking about working with nature rather than thinking we can ignore nature and building our homes to be safe against storms."

Levine said he will continue chasing storms, and so far has managed to escape injury.

"I'm very, very, very cautious. It's like hunting. You need to know your prey," he said. "Use your five senses and be mindful. It's mindful meditation when I chase or just watch from my bedroom."

Ryder Richards, Brazos Gallery coordinator, said he thinks the storm photography exhibition is great because people can enjoy the imagery.

"I enjoy Stephen's message about following his dreams and taking on challenges and risks," Richards said. "I love the one with Steve standing in front of a tornado. It looks like he's wearing a tornado hat. He's very inspirational."

Visit the library's Lago Vista Gallery to see some of Levine's "The Joy of Storm Hunting" photography. The images will be on display through Friday, Nov. 18.

 The display is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

Levine's website is http://www.joyfulstormhunting.com.