Creative Mastermind for Week 06/09: Jim Reed, Extreme Weather Photographer

Happy Monday friends! Hope you've all had a terrific weekend and that you're having a good start to the week so far. It's a new week, so that means we have a new Creative Mastermind to announce. Over the last few days, I've been contemplating about which direction I wanted to go with when deciding this week's mastermind. I like relevancy, and I try to pick subjects (and people) that center around current trends based on what I see in the world around me. One of the things that has really caught my attention lately is the weather. A very broad subject, the weather is changing and because we're in the transition period between Spring and Summer we see a lot of patterns in the weather that effect us- our daily plans, moods, and even our health. Recall last week's post "What a Beautiful Day for Sketching!" in which the weather was so gorgeous outside I just had be a part of it. There's the really good and beautiful side to weather, but there's also the mysterious, dangerous, and breathtaking part of weather too which sometimes I think people tend to or try to forget about. 

I have a strong passion for weather and believe me when I say that for many years I had every intention of going to college to study meteorology. When I got to high school though, I was discourage from the field because of the struggles I had when it came to harder studies in Math and Science. None the less, of all the research I've done one of the pieces of evidence that scientists rely to study the weather is photography. Using photographs, scientists can use visual evidence to study a weather pattern and determine the movements of a particular storm (even in the aftermath). One man who stands out among many nature photographers is Jim Reed, this week's Creative Mastermind. 

 Jim Reed was born in Georgia in 1961, but raised in Springfield, Illinois. From an early age he developed a love for storms and passion for photography which literally came together as "the perfect storm" for him. He went on to receive his Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of South California and started his career in film-making in the 1980s. He was producing many pieces such as commercials, music videos, and occasionally working on motion pictures. In the early 1990s, Jim Reed settled in Kansas and returned to his love of storms with his new skills in photography and cinematic arts.

His work has been seen throughout many books and TV programs spanning all across globe. He's been featured on channels such as Discovery, National Geographic, and even The Weather Channel to display his work and showcase his knowledge of storms through his art. Reed has also been honored many times through several organizations for his outstanding work in photography within his field. 

What makes this field of photography so unique is that not only does it open doors for creativity, but it's also unpredictable and spontaneous. Even with today's technologies, scientists still do not have a full understanding of weather systems and how they can predict the wrath of nature. So when photographers like Jim Reed go out into the field, you really don't know what to expect and what work they'll bring back with them. Hundreds of severe thunderstorms form throughout the North American region each year, but only a handful of them will produce really significant storms that spawn phenomenons like tornadoes, baseball sized-hail, or devastating flood levels. So when storms like these develop, Jim Reed takes advantage of the situation to document these developing cells. 

It's hard to exactly define the qualities that are precise reasons why Reed is a Creative Mastermind. I have a lot of respect for the art of what he does- it's more than snapping a picture of clouds. Each moment he captures tells a story from an event that could change history. For example, Reed has several photographs that captured the critical moments of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005- before & after, damage, during the storm, people driving through the storms, etc. Sometimes photos like these are the evidence that meteorologists use to survey storm strength and damage for insurance companies. After all a picture is worth a thousand words- but sometimes these pictures can be worth a thousand lives. Businesses looks back on these pictures and can say "this is where we went wrong and this how we're going to fix it". 

On the creativity side of Reed's work, I have to give major kudos for color and angle of his shots. While these images may reveal somewhat scary situations, they also have a certain degree of beauty in them. In this field nature is the canvas, and timing is everything, so Reed does an excellent job of using these elements carefully in a timely manner. Weather can change so quickly, and safety is important when documenting nature's wonders. Reed handles each of these factors with excellent consideration and precaution- though a few of his images I'm sure you'll agree appear to be "too close for comfort".

 

Overall, I think Jim Reed is a pure talent not just to photography, but also to science. Reed captures images that portray visual evidence of our scientific understanding of weather. I encourage you all to watch some of the various documentaries on extreme weather and see just how far crew members, such as Jim Reed, will go to get the perfect picture. This work is truly fascinating, and you can tell from the images just how passionate he his about weather. Don't take my word for it though. Visit his website: http://www.jimreedphoto.com/index.html and get up close and personal with nature's fury. 

Congrats to Jim Reed, Extreme Weather Photographer for being crowned this week's Creative Mastermind! Your talents have not gone unnoticed, and you are an incredible contribution to art and science lovers everywhere! If you would like to nominate someone to featured as a Creative Mastermind, go ahead and share your ideas with The Creative Cabana. Leave a comment on this post with the name and details of your nomination or you can share your nomination on Facebook or Twitter just search "Creative Cabana". 

* All images used in this post are the sole property of Jim Reed and Jim Reed Photography. The images were gathered from Google Images Search Results and are used for educational purposes only. Bio information was used from Jim Reed's website directly and I hereby give citation to the following website: http://www.jimreedphoto.com/index.html. All opinions in this post are my own views and do not reflect the views of Jim Reed or any of the organizations he has serviced. No Copyright Infringement Intended.