We were lucky to catch up with Jonah Lange recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jonah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

– Failure. How does anyone learn by succeeding? I think the most memorable and notable learning experiences came from failures, both big and small. Trial and error, especially with something that changes so quickly, is one of the only ways to truly learn.

– Honestly, there really is no way to bypass experience. Especially in a field where Mother Nature rules the photos, you kind of have to get good at adapting and changing on the fly. There is no way around true success.

– Perfect the basics. Be respectful. Make connections.

– Fear of failure stood in my way for such a long time. Then I realized, you’ll never capture it if you’re not there in the first place. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is go.

Jonah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Jonah Lange. I am 25 years old and I currently live in Colorado. I got into photography through my older brother, who is a photo journalist in the military. He inspired me to get into the craft when I was pretty young and I have been in love with photography ever since. The weather aspect is a little harder to explain. I used to be truly terrified of storms. I firmly believe that terror sparked an interest into understanding the thing that scared me most. I became attached and never looked back. I combined my love of photography with my love of storms and pointed in the direction of storm photography and videography. Now, as a 25 year old, I spend a lot of my time chasing and capturing these beautiful phenomena. I travel the plains every year in search of something new and unique.

Taking everything I have learned about the science behind forecasting these forces of nature, I set out with a goal in mind: Show people how powerful Mother Nature really is… for better or worse. At her worst, I’ve seen houses and buildings completely destroyed and people’s lives changed forever. At her best, clear views into the outer reaches of our world or a calm, beautiful day on the coast. Somewhere in between, some of the most beautiful storm structures I’ve ever seen. I want to change the way people look at Mother Nature, one picture at a time. To realize the immense power she holds and how incredibly fortunate we are to observe it unfold every day. To show the 9-5s just what they’re missing and make them realize just how small they and everyone else is in this world. Most importantly, I want to show everyone something they’ll never see anywhere else. A moment in time that will never expire.

I am most proud of the constant pursuit of passion. One of the hardest things I have ever dealt with is how difficult it is to keep going, especially when you fail over and over again. As I’m writing this, I have been in a huge lull for storms. I have forecasted wrong, had the wrong timing, or simply got unlucky. Many times I have thought that it just isn’t my year for storms. It reminds me to take a step back and be thankful for what I have seen and the time I have been fortunate enough to spend out here. As much as I would love to be seeing storms all the time and be on the best one every time, that’s just not how it works. I put my heart and soul into this craft and that is something that can never be taken away from me. I love what I do and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Art is always unique. No piece is ever truly the same. I think one of my biggest motivators or missions driving my creative journey is the ever-changing beauty that is Mother Nature. No two storms are ever the same. No two setups are ever the same. I love the science behind everything that happens inside storms, which is why it is so inspiring for me to learn what makes these beasts tick. What makes this storm look like this while the other looks like that. You take that science and excitement you get from seeing something no one else will ever see again, and combine that with something that allows moments to be captured in time… Truly inspirational and definitely my main driving factor.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building an audience takes patience, time, and most importantly, it takes LOTS of content. The dedication to posting once a day helped me for a long time. I edited lots of pictures, reposted some, and made sure there was always content flowing. As hard as it is, it’s very important if you’re looking to grow an audience. And then, post those videos that you think are stupid or just for your eyes. You would be surprised at how the world views them. The videos that show true passion where you can hear it in your words. It helps an audience get to know you more. I think a good mix of both is really where you should sit as far as social media goes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://art.jonahlange.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/jonahlange_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonahlangephotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonahlange/
• Twitter: https://x.com/jonahlange_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jonahlange_