Photographer Mike Olbinski (previously) is best known for his spectacular timelapse videos. As he’s a passionate storm chaser, those videos show storms that just take our breath away. In his latest video, he brings us another treat. Mike’s latest timelapse, Haboob: A Decade of Dust, is a compilation of haboob dust storms he captured over the last decade. Yup, that’s ten year’s-worth of magnificent haboob clouds – so I’m sure it will make your jaw drop.
Mike explains that last summer marked the tenth anniversary of the historic haboob that hit downtown Phoenix in 2011. But it’s also a personal milestone for Mike, as the timelapse of this haboob was his third ever timelapse attempt. “I posted it online, it did well and thus I decided to keep time-lapsing dust and storms,” Mike writes. And as it turned out, it was just a beginning of an amazing artistic and business journey he started from there.
“I’ve always wanted to do a short film displaying nothing but dust and haboobs,” Mike writes. So, after a decade of storm-chasing and lots of these formations captured, it made sense to finally do it. “This film doesn’t show all of the clips for sure, but it’s just most of my favorites,” Mike notes. You’ll see the clips he captured in the period between 2011 and 2021. “It started as a passion, turned into a business and now I consult annually with production companies on how to capture them on film,” Mike writes about his storm chasing and timelapse journey. I personally find it so inspiring to hear! So, other than enjoying Mike’s timelapse as I always do, I also enjoyed learning how his passion and hobby became his career. Make sure to watch the timelapse above, and visit Mike’s YouTube and Instagram for more of his stunning work. [Haboob: A Decade of Dust (4K) via Colossal]