Greg Johnson on storm chasing
From Chasing Storms with the Sony A7S | Greg Johnson · · Vistek
“Our truck that you can see over in the Sony booth has been inside the largest Tornado ever recorded on earth — it happened on May 31st of 2013 in Oklahoma — and that's too close.”
On , Greg Johnson, Vice President of Information Technology & Chief Information Officer at UNIT CORP, spoke about storm chasing during Chasing Storms with the Sony A7S | Greg Johnson on Vistek.
About Greg Johnson
Greg Johnson, a storm chaser and photographer based in Regina, Saskatchewan, discussed his approach to capturing extreme weather images during a 2016 presentation. He described his truck as having been inside the largest tornado ever recorded, in Oklahoma in 2013, and stated that his goal is to get as close as safely possible while prioritizing the ability to tell the story. Johnson noted that he recently switched from DSLR to mirrorless camera technology, citing advantages in focusing and high ISO performance, and said he shoots in JPEG with wide apertures and high ISOs, emphasizing that "the moments are the ones that matter" over technical perfection. Johnson also addressed safety and economic motivations for his work. He distinguished between taking risks and being reckless, noting that his team uses a bulletproof truck, real-time Doppler radar, and meteorologists. He said that in media sales, being first to market with breaking news footage is critical, and that a single photo can "make our season and pays for our year." Johnson added that after a tornado, his team has set up triage stations and performed search-and-rescue, keeping cameras in the truck until people were safe, and that they call 9-1-1 and Environment Canada before pursuing footage.