Will Eades, storm photographer and Nikon Creator: Heart of the Nation
Ever wondered how Will Eades captures images like this? Here, Australia’s leading storm photographer gives away his secrets...
How’s this for a storm photo then? If you’re wondering how Will Eades captures images like this, you’re in luck, because he’s doing a series of Nikon Live masterclasses called Capturing Nature’s Fury (he’s in Sydney this weekend) where he passes on skills that he’s accrued through years of trial and error and a single-minded dedication to the craft. “I used to keep these skills closely guarded because they were so hard-won, but my attitude has changed,” says the 37-year-old, who lives in Port Macquarie and manages ferry operations around NSW. “Now, when I see people out there with their camera gear in a storm, trying their best, I think, ‘That was me six or seven years ago’. If they have that sort of determination, I’m happy to help.” He talks technical stuff at the masterclasses – ISO numbers and shutter speeds and f-stops and f-knows what else – but that’s only the half of it. The other half is what you might call fieldcraft. Pieces of essential knowledge, of practical wisdom, that he’s learned along the way. It boils down to three key things.
No.1 Always stay that little bit longer. “That’s my mantra,” says Eades. “There have been so many times when I’ve packed up to leave, or I’m already in the car on the way home, and something dramatic happens – Mother Nature isn’t finished. So always stay a bit longer; it’s amazing how often something good will happen.”
No.2 Get close, but not too close. If the storm is way off in the distance it’s hard to make the shot dramatic. You want it to fill the frame, but no more. (One time in 2017, on Eades’ first pilgrimage to “Tornado Alley” in the US, he pulled his car over in Kansas to photograph a storm and it suddenly went dark as night and giant hailstones and 130km/h winds started to batter his car, and he thought, for a terrifying minute, that a supercell was forming right on top of him. It wasn’t, luckily. But that was too close.)
No.3 Always be prepared. It sounds obvious, right? But Eades lost some good opportunities in the early days through simple oversights. Silly mistakes. So make sure, when you’re in position to photograph a fast-evolving storm, that you’re ready. Make sure your focus is dialled in, that there are no rain drops on your lens, that you’ve double-checked your settings. “It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the adrenalin and forget one key thing because you’re so busy thinking, ‘This is a really special storm’,” he says.
Eades dropped everything one afternoon last December when he looked out the window and saw the clouds building. He raced up to Port Macquarie’s Tacking Point. The storm was moving parallel to the coast – close, but not too close. He set up his gear, and double-checked everything. And then he waited and watched as amazing structure developed in the clouds. “You want to nail that moment when the light hits peak intensity,” he explains. “This storm was evolving fast, and I was just waiting, waiting, hoping, hoping...” Finally, just before sunset, Mother Nature gifted him The Moment. “Intense sunlight started hammering through the rain core and the colours ramped up... it was one of those things like, ‘Stand back, this is about to blow your mind’... and then the whole scene just went supernova.” Click. And that’s how it’s done.