We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tori Jane Ostberg a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tori Jane thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?
My hero has remained the same for most of my life: his name is Warren Faidley, and he’s a storm chaser, journalist, and photographer based in Tucson. When I was in about fourth or fifth grade, I was at the school library when a friend showed me a book called STORM CHASER: In Pursuit of Untamed Skies by, of course, Mr. Faidley. It was essentially a collection of storm-chasing adventures, misadventures, wins, losses, and everything in between – and it revolved entirely around my obsession, which was – and still is – severe weather.
I have wanted to be a storm chaser for longer than I can remember. It’s just always been my thing; I’m pretty lucky to have never had to wonder what I wanted to be. And when I read this book, this diary of a real-life storm chaser from the same state I’m from doing everything I always wanted to do, it resonated with me. Deeply. The book became something of a blueprint for me. I would become a storm chaser someday, and I would try to do it as Warren did.
Of course, over the years, my journey (and my own personal style) has developed. Now, I’m doing exactly what Warren did (and still does): chasing the wildest weather on planet Earth, going where the wind takes me, and photographing everything along the way.
As a fun side note, I did end up meeting Warren. He signed my copy of STORM CHASER, my little personal Bible, and only made it even MORE of a treasured belonging. Warren showed me that everything I dreamt up was possible – even from, and in, Arizona. We follow one another on Twitter now, and he regularly gives me feedback on my work and treats me as a peer and not a starry-eyed kid, which is an amazing feeling. I owe a lot of who I am to him, and that book.
Tori Jane, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a 33-year-old storm chaser and photographer, going to tremendous lengths to experience and photograph the wildest, meanest weather on the planet. I have been hopelessly obsessed with weather, especially “bad” weather, for my entire life; it is, and always has been, an enormous part of my soul. When I was little, I thought, “What if *I* drove *to* the storms when I can drive?” It was a brilliant idea at the time. Then “Twister” came out, and my child self thought they “stole” my idea.
So, chasing and I go back… way back.
I got halfway through my meteorology degree when I realized that I couldn’t continue to pay outrageous tuition costs to sit in an office at a desk for the rest of my life. In fact, this sounded like absolute misery – so I set out on my own, determined to make a living with this in any way I could.
It’s going well. I went on my first chasing adventure in the Great Plains (after rookie years of only chasing Arizona monsoon storms) and ended up shooting bucket-list, everything-I’d-ever-wanted-out-of-my-entire-life photos of a stunning photogenic tornado in Colorado (which eventually would take second place in National Geographic’s Nature Photographer of the Year competition in 2016) on the first day of this first trip. It was a nudge in the right direction – a sign from the universe that this is indeed what I was meant to do with this life.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
There are a seemingly infinite number of ways I can answer this. Being a creative has been immeasurably rewarding, from the incredible elation of being noticed by National Geographic after my first-ever chase in the big leagues to even the little things like the love and amazement I get from each and every person who follows, say, my Facebook page. It is incredibly rewarding to be a person that these folks know they can come to for tips, tricks, and advice for chasing their own dreams, which, in this case, is usually them hoping to become storm chasers themselves. The fact that it’s my work they see and thinks, “Wow, I want to do that, I’m going to ask her how” is one of the most amazing accomplishments I think I can count. It truly is food for my soul. That people love watching me do what I live for is a source of elation for me. That they trust me enough to ask for my help is a source of elation for me. I’m not here to compete with anyone, man; I hope we all make it.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Oh, yes. The biggest thing is always the work that it actually requires to do this; storm chasing is about 85% driving, 10% waiting, and 5% storms. Of that 5% storms, only a few of them will produce tornadoes. Most folks who don’t live and breathe the storm-chasing lifestyle (and it is exactly that: a lifestyle, for many of us, not “just” a hobby) will think it’s absolutely bonkers to drive 11,000 miles in a month looking for spinning water vapor that may or may not even happen. But the thing they don’t understand is this: there is SO much passion in every single mile. Simply imagine how much you’d have to love or enjoy something to drive 14+ hours a day for it, every day, for no less than four weeks – it’s a love – or an all-consuming obsession – that many people will never experience at all in this life, for anything, and it’s a pull strong enough to keep plenty of us coming back year after year, driving countless miles and experiencing countless… well, shenanigans… just to catch a glimpse of – and perhaps photos and/or footage of – that thing we love most.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @copperstatestormchasing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/copperstatestormchasing
- Twitter: @cpprstatestorms
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXJxsEePFYU6CMxdnR_SO3w
Image Credits
Tori Jane Ostberg/ Copper State Storm Chasing