Monsoon III, A Gorgeous Timelapse That Captures the Stark Beauty of Gathering Storm Clouds

In the third video from of his “Monsoon” series, photographer Mike Olbinski, a Phoenix-based stormchaser, created a gorgeous timelapse that captured the stark beauty of summertime storm clouds as they gathered and darkened overhead, threatening to pour their contents over the arid Arizona desert.

For me personally, I loved this season. Maybe because as a filmmaker, having put out a few of these films now, I’m beginning to focus and hone in more on what I really love to time-lapse. My early scenes years ago had a lot of average clouds and distant rain that didn’t have a lot of excitement or energy. But as the years go on, and I learn more and more about chasing storms here in Arizona…I’ve found myself in better spots to capture the stuff I really enjoy. Strong downbursts of rain, building clouds, lightning…and yes, dust storms. …So Monsoon III…the credits will say it, but it was around 36 days of filming, I shot over 85,000 frames and am not sure how much made it into the final cut.