Storm Before the Podcast Episode 27: Storm Photographers Tim and Lauren Baca

Join us as we explore the inspiring journey of storm photographers Lauren and Tim Baca from New Mexico. Discover their passion for weather, the challenges they've overcome, and how their shared experiences have elevated their craft and friendship. Join us as we explore storm chasing, personal growth, and community support with seasoned, multiple award winning storm photographers Lauren and Tim Baca. Discover their most exhilarating moments, lessons learned, and advice for aspiring storm chasers and photographers.

keywords storm chasing, storm photography, New Mexico, weather photography, storm chasing tips, storm photography workshops, storm chasing stories, weather enthusiasts, storm photography awards, storm chasing community storm chasing, storm photography, personal growth, community support, weather photography, tornadoes, storm chasing tips, storm photography tips, storm chasing community, storm photography journey, new mexico magazine, 

Transcript

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welcome back to another episode of the storm before the calm podcast I am your host Laurie Grace Bailey today I am excited to bring longtime photographer storm chaser friends Lauren and Tim Baca welcome Lauren and Tim so great to have you on the podcast Yeah, it's great to be here. Thank you for having us. Yeah, thank you, Lori. We're really excited to speak with you today. I am excited to get into the photos and we're going to talk about this a little bit too because you guys have been all over everywhere showing off some of your most majestic scenery. And I love New Mexico so much. That's one of the reasons, I'm not going to lie, one of the reasons I'm so glad that we get to talk about, with you all on this podcast. You all are from New Mexico and you all have won a few awards and we're going to get into that. Can you tell people who might not know who Lauren and Tim Baca are? Just briefly let us know who you are. Sure, I can go first. So I'm Lauren Baca. I'm actually not a native New Mexican. I'm from Texas. I like to joke that Tim imported me. I do. As soon as I got to New Mexico, I knew that it was going to be home. But I am a storm photographer, storm chaser, and just really blessed to do what I love with the person that I love. So Tim, yeah, I I remember, I think I knew you before I knew Lauren, but you were out there always chasing New Mexico storms too, and I think I saw you out in, near Orla, Texas at one point. I think I've known you for a little longer. Can you let us know who you are? Yeah, my name is Tim Bach. I've been chasing storms since 2017. Back in 2020, started doing some workshop stuff and in 2022, I it was we started our workshops. Yeah, I love to chase storms and photography. Started both at the same time and that kind of grew into a passion together. I say I had been a landscape photographer prior to storms and I started chasing in 2021 and was just immediately enamored and knew that that was the type of photography I wanted to pursue in addition to landscapes. Yeah, I remember seeing some of your earlier photos, your astral work of the what's it called, Beastie Badlands? Is that it? And I remember that's what drew me to your work and Tim, your iconic, some of your iconic early shots of those old churches, this middle of nowhere. And then of course, Tim gets this gigantic bolts like right above it. It's this whole pristine foreground, perfect composition. And here I am like, you know, trying to get this meager foreground without Mesquite here in Arizona. You know, just trying to get these great shots. And then Tim shows off these beautiful cars and structure and barns and churches. And I was like, wow, this is amazing. So you all have been chasing and Tim, you started chasing in New Mexico. If I remember correctly, I met you and Amy for the first time. That's what it was, there was this beautiful storm near Orla. But it was, it didn't happen right away. We saw that it was taking a hold. So I saw Tim and Amy Howard chasing storms out near Hope, New Mexico, what is it, Artesia. And Tim goes, oh, I know a back road and I'm in a Honda Pilot and Tim's got this truck with this giant hail cage, right? Yeah. like, I know the back roads that way. And I'm like, dude, there's nothing on my maps that I can go to. He's like, you're in a Honda pilot. You'll be fine. And Tim takes us on this hour long journey through these back roads of just dirt. And as we start to cross some of the washes, do you remember that? That the water starts coming through and I'm like, I'm going to be so screwed. I'm going to be stuck without cell service. And Tim just knew exactly where. Next thing I know, we pop out on a road kind of like Twister, you know, when they come out onto the, out of the cornfield. And I just remember like my heart like, thank God. my God. I never want to do that again. Who is this wild guy? You know, this madman taking us through these back roads and BFE. And then next thing I know, we're looking directly south at this freaking beautifully growing storm. Do you remember that storm, Tim? Yeah, I do. Yeah, that was awesome. I remember that road too. Yeah, that was that was not fun. we both ended up on different locations of the storm. And I know that you you guys had really cool vantage from the south. And I was like, I was still relatively new to storm chasing. was my first opportunity to chase storms on the plains by myself. And we're just learning. We're just getting out there. The passion and and the excitement of getting after it. What do you guys think, you know, as far as chasing supercells? In New Mexico, all get to see both the monsoon storms, the beauty of the monsoon, and you're in the high plains as well. So you get this merging of supercells during severe weather season, and then you get the monsoon. How are you all able to take all that in and integrate that into what you all do nowadays? Like you even give tours. Thank you. I think it just comes from the peace and the joy we feel pursuing severe weather. And I read a, I'm going to plug my friend's book here real quick because her quote is so perfect, but she had a quote in her book called, or in her book that says, you know, nothing makes me feel smaller than standing in front of an updraft, punching 60,000 feet into the sky. And it feels like, I'm finally not taking up too much space. And I think that's exactly how I feel when I'm chasing. It's just, uh you're in this state of wrapped awe and wanting to capture that moment and freeze it and also help other people witness it and capture it. And so that's truly like why we love. leading our storm photography workshops and introducing people to the beauty and the fury of storms. And these are usually people who've never even seen a supercell before. mean, in I've never seen a photogenic supercell before until 2021. So I can absolutely relate to the abject wonder that you feel when you're on the plains. Absolutely. And I think that's perfectly said. Wow. And that I'm going to have to get a copy of that book because that so eloquently describes that same feeling right when you're standing there and those 60,000 foot tops also happened from the monsoon storms to these pulse thunderstorms that happen. Except we get that kind of a storm that beautiful storm over white sands right you all aren't that far from white sands kind of a skip in a in a hop there but There are so many opportunities to just be amazed at the skies. And Lauren, I know you bring your astrophotography skills with you. And Tim, you bring some of your other Upper New Mexico storm chasing skills with you too. And you all have created this integration of skill, experience, capturing extraordinary images. And you've merged this into this. beast of just nonstop amazing photos, but it wasn't always the case, right? You all had humble beginnings. How did you all develop that passion for storm chasing and for capturing? some of the most beautiful scenes because it's not just about storm chasing. You all want to see everything that you can. Yeah. Yeah, I guess for me, it started at a pretty young age. passion for storms, you know, back my mom introduced me to Twisters way back when it came out, you know, and she's always been a storm fanatic too. And we kind of started storm chasing together back in 2017. And before that, I hadn't even picked up a camera. So I didn't really know anything. I had a buddy that had a older Canon crop sensor DSLR. He let me borrow it for the trip. We went to, I think, Texas and Oklahoma and no idea, no idea how to use this thing. I went straight to shoot in manual mode. Didn't know what any of the settings actually did. It was just grainy, horrible images in focus, but shooting at like 20,000 ISO during the day and just horrible, horrible images. little by little, I fell into this group in New Mexico of really amazing landscape photographers. that we're also kind of just getting going with storm chasing. you know, I really lucked out with that because we all kind of were able to grow together and learn how to navigate this photography world and the storm chasing world. Another big influence on what's pushed me towards, you know, what I call more complete photographs where you can ground the storm to a place in time. Right. A big influence on that is amazing landscape photographer down in Las Cruces, Wayne Suggs, one of my really good friends, a really good friend. Just kind of a little bit of his mentorship and seeing his style of photography has really pushed me to try to get great foregrounds to go with the photos and have a more complete image. see that influence there in your own shots. That's awesome. think Tim truly did pioneer compositional storm photography. And that's you did. He's being modest over here. There were a lot of photographers doing similar. But yeah, for me, I my love of photography was born out of my love for the outdoors and hiking. And so I would just carry a DSLR with me whenever I went on my hikes. And that just sort of naturally progressed into landscape photography. And in 2021, I fell into this incredible photography group on Clubhouse. I don't know if anybody remembers that app or not. It was a social audio app and we were all just kind of like, I think, craving and searching for connection during the pandemic. I was able to connect with photographers that I had, that inspired me and that I'd looked up to for years and actually meet them. They invested in me and helped me hone my photography skills. Shout out to all those people like Ben Strauss, Tracy Lee, Mike Sadowski, uh Ren. All of these people had such a huge influence on me as a photographer and helped me really start my landscape obsession and career. And then... When I met Tim, I was also adopted into this wonderful group of New Mexico photographers who have just truly been the biggest influence on me as well. I mean, we have such an amazing time together, but we also learn from one another. We grow together. And then of course, like Wayne Suggs has been a huge influence on me and just an incredible mentor and just very, very thankful for the people in our lives that have helped us become the photographers we are today. So it's been a, it's been. Amy Howard earlier. She was one of the original New Mexico storm chasers and photographers. Me, her, and then Jake Worth. just, that has probably been the best thing to happen to me for my photography and storm chasing was meeting those two individuals and, you know, just that push, you know, all together to get better at learning. from each other and they're both amazing landscape and storm photographers. You know, there's so much skill and so much energy going into the photography of, especially it's such an untapped area, New Mexico, right? Yes, you have great photographers, but it's not like you have 3,000 chasers all in Corona, New Mexico, unless there's a tornado at 7,200 feet, which is really awesome by the way, near Encino. I'm all for that, you know? But the fact of the matter is, You talk about the experience of others, the shared experience and the shared knowledge that these other people, they could have been gatekeepers, right? Let's talk about that really quickly. You two, from both of your fields in photography, especially around that time, we all know if you're a photographer, if you're a professional or you want to be a professional, there used to be a lot of gatekeeping, right? No, I'm not gonna share that secret. No, I'm not gonna give this. And I get it, I get it. You we have to make money, right? There are photographers that have really special skills that want to share that with people, but they also gotta get their bread, right? And so there are super secrets like sprite chasing. You I love that I'm gonna be able to get a select group of people, hopefully on an MCS in Mexico, you know, a mesoscale convective system in the right location at the right time and maybe capture some sprites like. like Paul Smith, the great, know, can do the legend. Yeah, but there's all this inspiration and you talk more than inspiration. You're talking about relationships that you built, not only between the two of you, that there is these relationships that have grown over time. And isn't that such an important element? Not only in your experience and learning as a photographer, but as a person to be able to grow into that and to, doesn't that help you and shore up your own passion and help you to pursue that further? 100%. I mean, we wouldn't be the human beings or the photographers we are today without the people in our life. 100%. It's just that connection is just important for anyone. Not only are these people our photography friends, but they're some of our best friends. They're our support system. They're the people we turn to when things get tough and they've been there for us in our hardest moments. I think truly like with storm chasing too like it's the people that make it as much as the storms. 100%. I mean some of these people they they stood up in our wedding. Yeah. I mean our really good friend Justin Sneed that's actually who we met through. He married us. He got ordained and he actually you know married us at the first place that we ever know, Adventure 2, which was this the Badlands, the Valley of Dreams by the Alien Throne. And then for our, we had a second wedding for like family and stuff. The first was just a little elopement and like he stood up in the wedding as well. And we have other friends that did the same thing. you know, this core New Mexico group that been so lucky to be around all this time, like they were all there for. the wedding there, the alo men at Masty Badlands. So special. Yeah. I want to call Justin real quick too, because he is the reason that I started storm chasing, because I met him on Clubhouse as well. And I had never seen storm photography to that level or degree before, because I come from East Texas where things are not photogenic. It's HP supercells, rain-wrapped tornadoes, and grunge murkiness. Yeah. and so then I was introduced to Justin's photography and I had no idea that storms could be that beautiful and I just, it was, I don't know, I was just floored that this even existed and so I definitely have Justin to thank for jumpstarting my storm chasing journey as well as introducing me to my future husband. It's amazing how things work out that way. I'm sure that they didn't feel that at the beginning though, right? You know, have, have, has there been struggles and difficult moments through those times? Like everybody thinks that they think, you're the happy couple. you've, you know, you, I know there are people out there and it's okay. It's okay to feel that to see somebody else's success and go, well, crap. I, I suck. Right. It's, it's so easy to just give into that to deal with the FOMO. mean, FOMO is such a real thing. And then comparison, you know, it's so easy to compare yourself with other people instead of being that open person. And you two have always been a support with me and through anything and everything I've been through, you guys have been amazing offline to even say, hey, you know, we're with you there. Keep going, keep going. Don't stop. let the haters win, right? know, can you describe a moment where, you know, you had that challenge, whether it the emotional, mental challenges where you felt like you were ready to just give up? Because I think that's something we don't talk about. People will see you and they'll just go, they're in the right crowd. They're, no. And it's so easy to criticize and to stop and think, what is their history? How did you get here? Because I guarantee you, I've known you, Lauren, probably a little bit more than I've known Tim, but I've known Tim longer. and that the battles and the paths that you all have come through tells a bigger story. And if we just get to know people better, then we'll understand and maybe learn from their trials and their tribulations and maybe want to maybe take that upon ourselves and maybe grow from that so that they don't have to also make those same mistakes. Yeah, I think for me one of the biggest struggles that I've had and it's everybody does is you know, imposter syndrome. you know, I'm you can ask Lauren, I am my hardest critic when it comes to any photography decisions I make while still chasing any of it. He's never satisfied. Yeah, I'm hard on myself with all that. Yeah. And there was a long, you know, point where I was just really, really down on my You know, anybody, and it's tough when you're surrounded by so many amazing photographers and amazing people in general, is you start to look down on your work and, you know, somebody else might look at it and be like, know, it's amazing. But you get stuck in that mentality of, you know, being second tier on the stuff and not being able to produce as good of images or maybe, you know, missing. the opportunities that you could have had if you had just made different decisions while chasing. And what I've done to kind of help me with that is I always like to keep older images that, you know, back from when I first started so I can look at those images and look at my current images. Yeah, and just kind of see how much I've grown because when you're just looking at such a short period of time, it's hard to notice that. But when you look back further at when you started, you can really see and quantify how much of a change you've gone through and how much you've learned and just how much better you are at this. You know, and real quickly too, before I get to you, Lauren, isn't it incredible to, when you're looking at those pictures, you're not just looking at your progress as a photographer, but you're also seeing and remembering how far you've come as a person and the crap that you've gone through. As you're climbing the mountain, think it's so important to turn back and look upon those ridges that you've had to overcome, those that you've gotten to that really screwed that up. But anyways, yeah, no, I totally understand that. And I love that when you look at those images, you think of the time and the stuff that you were going through also at the time. So you bring that with you also, and it really gives you a reason to be grateful for how far you've come through, not just in your career, but in life, right? And same with you, Lauren I know that you've, think I know more of your personal story more. And, you know, I'm just so proud of you. I just want to tell you that right now. Like so proud of you, not just your photography skill, but your weight loss journey and everything. Like you have come through so much. And so it's an inspiration for me, you know, talking to people like Ariana, Elena Castillo also last week. And just, there's so many people who have gone through so much, but then they look at you and they just think, you're fine. You're great. You're able-bodied. Everything's good. You're successful. Yay, no problems. You've never had any problems. That hasn't always been the case with you, Definitely not. I definitely have major self-confidence issues. A lot of that is self-inflicted just from past trauma that I've been through and just dealing with my own anxiety and never feeling like I'm good enough or enough. I think I sort of exacerbated that when Tim and I got together because here I was like dating and then eventually married to one of the most prolific storm photographers on the scene. And it's tough not to, it was tough not to compare my journey to his knowing that also knowing like he's, he was so much further along in his photography journey when we got together, he'd been doing this for years. He'd been, you know, honing his skills and storm photography is so different just from straight up landscape. Right. difficult, it's chaotic, it can be a struggle. And to me, for me, sometimes seeing those compositions out in the field and identifying them quickly doesn't come naturally. So that's something I to work harder at. And that's something that he's really good at. So I would often do this to myself, where I would be like, well, I'm just in Tim's shadow. Like nobody sees me. You know, I'm kind of invisible. And it was nothing. Nothing that he did. He's always been my biggest supporter the person who has elevated me throughout it throughout at all but this was just what I was doing to myself because of that anxiety and that struggle with imposter syndrome and ah It's taken years Of healing and therapy to sort of overcome like these mental obstacles and not let the intrusive thoughts be louder than reality And I'm so thankful that I have Tim who is just like, truly is my rock. Like he's what grounds me in those moments when, like my brain just can't differentiate reality from what's in my head. And then that's been like a huge part of my journey as a photographer is like overcoming. overcoming that mental walk of, well, I'm just not good enough. I'm never gonna be good enough. I'm never gonna be as good as Tim. I'm never gonna be seen or respected as much as he is. And I think I'm finally coming out on the other side of that. I will tell you in 2022, the first year that I put in for the Stormys, I was so hopeful. was like, I was just. So excited, I was a finalist, I was really hoping that I would make top three at that point. External validation was way too important to me and I was really looking for that award to feel like an equal and uh Tim came in second that year which was amazing and I did not and I'm so embarrassed about this now but I literally like I got out of the, we were chasing, I got out of the truck and David Baxter was with us too. And I went behind a tree and just cried and had a meltdown because I was just so distraught and sad that I didn't achieve this. And it was to the detriment of like celebrating my partner's success. And, you know, I think that's something that we don't always think about what like when our partners are our support system and they're constantly there for us. it's like it wears on. them too and it's like I always have to think like am I you know am I being a good partner and am I celebrating like Tim as much as he is always being the first person to advocate for me but I'm so thankful that I'm like now on the other side of that and that just constant search for validation outside of myself and outside of the person that I love like it's it's not It's not just like this constant thrum in my mind anymore. Like it's something that I'm like, yeah, like an award would be nice to have, but it's not, I'm not going to go cry behind a tree anymore. Like if I don't win this basically, or if I'm not. though. You did win this year. What was the award for? was awarded the 2025 Storm Photographer of the Year, which I've been chasing for a long time. Like, Tenz obviously won that multiple times and feels good to bring that one home for the Bacchus again. you know, was that the was that the Naravista storm, the Amistad storm? Was it that photo? actually, so that photo was part of the portfolio, it encompassed a portfolio of 10 images taken over seven different chase days. Yeah. There was something else that you might've won with that image. don't know. I did. I don't know if you remember that. I do. He's always like, he's always the first person to be like, talk about your achievements. So that image actually did win the New Mexico magazine grand prize this year with I saw too. When I saw it on, I was just like Facebook and boom, New Mexico, cause I follow all the, you know, magazines and all that stuff and boom, boom, boom. And I'm like, I know this photo. This is by the way, and we'll talk about this too, but Tim, your shots look nothing like Lauren's. Lauren's looked like nothing like yours and you all chased together. You know, you guys capture very similar shots, but they don't look like. When I saw that I go and I love this because when people tell me the same thing, I'm just like, yes, but that's a Lauren Baca photo. I know that shot. And I was just like, hell to the yeah. So the New Mexico magazine, I this is big, big, big also because New Mexico magazine has just like, these are national geographic level photographers. It must have been a really proud moment for you, an achievement to feel that and to finally feel that personal validation too, especially with New Mexico. It was it was very surreal and but it felt very hard fought and hard earned. Because I've like I said I've weathered rejection for years and I feel like that's probably part of everybody's story. Like we all have been rejected from one thing or another and it's just how how do you handle that? How do you? How do you sit with that sit in that discomfort but not let it completely? take over your life and like consume you. And I would say in 2022, I was letting it consume and devour me. And now it just, it became easier to say, you know what, if I never win an award, I'm okay. Because what matters most is do I love my work? Do I enjoy my photography? Are other people... the people that I care about and respect, are they connecting with it? And it felt as much as I'm so incredibly and immensely grateful for these awards, getting to that point in my mental health where I didn't crave an award to recognize that I am a good photographer felt even more validating. Exactly. And I've noticed too that you did something immediately after as well. And you reached out to everybody else who didn't win, right? It sucks, know, only a few people can win certain awards and whatnot. But you reached out to a lot of people that were like, well, this sucks. I don't see a lot of photographers do that. Like, Hey, I know what you're going through. It's okay. know, trust in the trust in the process, trust in your own self-confidence. You're going to get there. So the biggest, most proud moment of my life, I think was when, those few moments when I would show my mom that I was in a magazine, Cosmo magazine, and there's my picture in one of, an outdoor magazine, and I showed it and she's like, I'm so proud of you. And she's not here anymore. And it's just like, wow, know, showing her that, knowing that I made my mom proud, holy cow. You know, that's it. That's peak photography, but peak overcoming for me is to be able to get to that point, you know, it's just. Yeah. Sorry, I was going to connect back to my mom right now, but wow, that was so amazing. And that's, that's something that you guys do. You guys reach out to other people and you just are constant motivators as well. You focus on the positivity and you don't get involved into the drama, you point you, you talked about something that is kind of a current thing right now. bottom line is you two are both incredibly full of light, fantastic photographers. And what I have noticed is between the and I'm going to judge you guys here. So give me give me a second to judge. I'm to be a little judgy. but you both have been really, really great photographers. But when you guys connected together, both of your lights merged and now both of your photography is like accelerated. And it's just like, I know when I see a Tim shot and a Lauren shot and I'm just like, whoo, yes, Lord, you know, and I am, I'm doing the, the Madea thing, you know, and I'm just jumping up, up and up and down for joy for you guys, because it's been the process. I know what you guys have gone through to get there and So I'm just really proud for the two of you, So, you know, getting down to what happens in real life, sadly, it happens where you guys meet other storm chasers and then the guys just talk to you and they don't talk to Lauren or they might just say hi and then they might talk to you only Tim as if Lauren's not an active huge part of the whole state storm chasing trip. and doesn't provide that kind of value. How do you sort through that and how do you deal with that? Because we've already seen that really blow up on X this weekend and over the last few days. And it's not just you, by the way. Other women feel like, what am I, chop liver? They're just, how do you all deal with that? And thanks for being an advocate for others who also struggle through that, because it shouldn't happen. And I think we can all do better. Yeah, I think for me there was a really good quote from I can't remember the exact woman who said it may have been Lucy but she said most women are seen in storm chasing are seen as plus ones instead of active participants and that is very devaluing to just what we bring to the community. I I am so grateful that I get to chase with him. I mean, I have learned so much from him. I would be lying if I said that, you know, my growth, some of my growth like wasn't attributed to the fact that we are chase partners and I've, you know, been right there in the passenger seat learning from him about forecasting and positioning and situational awareness, watching how he composes photos and seeing his process. But I see that like that's not me just riding his coattails or resting on his laurels. Like that's just the benefit of being able to pursue your passion with the person that you love. And I'm so grateful that I get to do that. But also I'm my own, my completely own person. I'm my completely own photographer. The way that we step out into the field and compose a scene and see a scene is can often be completely different. The way that we process is, you know, there are similarities in our processing, but the way that we shape visual flow through a photo is different. I mean, if you compare our Naravisa photos, they're completely individual, unique shots, even though like we were both, our practically set up next to each other, like at that location. So I think, you know, that was what I always struggled with was, always worrying that people were seeing me just as this plus one, like to him as a chaser and not actually contributing when in fact we are a team, we make decisions together and the reason that we're so successful is because we do this together. Absolutely, everybody belongs, everybody deserves to be able to chase the beautiful skies that we chase. Tim, how do you go about doing that when you're out there and out on the road and you encounter those groups when someone says, doesn't, how do you talk to someone when you see that people are kind of avoiding Lauren or if that ever happens, do you just bring it or. Is it intentional? You have to do it with intentionality, right? Where you just like, no, this is by the way, this is Lauren, you know, how's that? Have it happened where you had to like, by the way, hey, she's she's my better half here because we already know who the better half is. You know, come on. Sorry. Yeah, no, definitely. I've had to do that in the past before. And you know what? It gets irritating. You know, it's tiresome because she is her own person. And, you know, there's often calls that like by El Reno a couple of years ago during the workshop, I was ready to drive out further from the storm and see if we can't just get some you know, lightning in the anvil or, you know, some stars up above it or something. And she was looking at radar and she's like, no, look, I think it's going to tornado. And called me over to the radar. I looked at the radar and I'm like, yeah, we need to, we need to get over there. It's going to happen. And we ended up getting two, yeah, two nice tornadoes at night because of that, you know? So she's, she's perfectly capable of it on her own. Her photography. you know, it's amazing photography because of her, you know, it's her vision that she puts out there, not mine. So, you know, I've had situations where I have to kind of move her out in front of me and be like, hey, you know, talk to her, talk to her. And, you know, often if people just continue to do the same thing and kind of like brush off or whatever, then it's not really a conversation that I care to be in. oh it. see myself out of the situation and just talk to somebody that can give Lauren the same respect. Yeah, exactly. That's really what it comes back to, right? It comes out to dignity and respect, treating everybody. It doesn't matter who it is, right? And I've done that too, where I've seen so many chasers, it's like it gets clicky. And I just hope that, you know, I'll move on from this subject, but I just hope that we as a community overall, and I think we're moving in that direction, but I just hope that we as a community can continue to police ourselves and just go ahead, just nudge each other in the right direction And for the ones who don't, and for the ones who want to be just a mean jerk, that's OK too. But I'm just not going to hold that kind of company. That's not going to be the company I keep. Getting back into the coolness of stuff, because I can't wait to see some of your photos too. You guys have seen so many amazing storms, the Haboobs coming out of the super cells, you know, out of the forward flank and stuff. can you give us one really exquisite memory of one of the storms you chased? Yeah, I think for me, it's not even one of these big massive supercells or one of these amazing tornadoes that have, you know, been able to witness. ah One of my most memorable moments is you spoke about it earlier, the old church, know, Taiban Church. And, you know, I tried so many times to get lightning at that building. And the only post that people see is, you know, the big bolt, you know, wrapping around it or one of those. finally getting that shot of a big bolt at my favorite building in the world really, really has stood out to me as probably my most memorable moment of it. Just something as simple as lightning in an old building, you know, but it's that's really one of my most memorable moments that I'm just cherish, look back and cherish it all the time. It's so personal to you. Which also tells me that you were trying and there were so many times you're like, old man yells at sky, right? Is that? I know. it's about, I guess about 50 miles from where I grew up. So, you know, kind of easy to go out there all the time and try. And I did. I went out many, many times. It's like you with white sands, you know, always going out there trying to get that shot of it. And when it finally happened, it was just, you know, great. And... The next time that I was able to capture it, I got to share that moment with lot of close friends. So that was just kind of cherry on top. It was great. That sounds awesome. I hear this all the time from chasers are like come on Lori every every photo doesn't have a story and I'm like bull-s Every photo does have it can have a story or it can be insignificant to you I don't know maybe that I'm just wired differently or I'm just weird or something But you know these images these these places these small little chases every one of them means something to me Yeah. Gosh, there's so many moments to pick from. mean, Narwusa, of course, the 426-24 outbreak where I saw 12 tornadoes in one day, more than I've seen in my entire life. But I honestly, think one of the most memorable chases for me, and Tim's gonna laugh, is Roswell, Kansas on April 21st, 2022. That was... It was a great day. It was a great day. Obviously I was more impressed with this supercell because I was a new V chaser, but it was my first LP supercell, beautiful barber pole at sunset. We got it with this old barn at Kansas that unfortunately I think is not there anymore. But we captured it with good friends. Justin Seed with Steve Saviano, Rob Hoff, there was just a bunch of us out there on that day and it was Tim's birthday. So that was just so special because it was... I don't know, maybe you and I hadn't chased very much together before that. So it was probably like, you know, our third, fourth or fifth chase together. And for me to see a supercell of that caliber for the first time, I just could not believe my eyes. I was losing my mind. Like we had the barber pole with the barn over here and then there was another storm to the south that had these beautiful just backlit, sunset drenched updrafts and I thought nothing in the world can be better than this. And to that day, that's still one of my most favorite photos that I've ever taken. I can tell and you immediately went there. love watching people when I ask them about a memory and you could see it goes chaching and it's like now loading into, you know, like a little record bringing that out because, it does have that significance to you for you as well. That, must've been a big day. Were you with the tour group or was it just the two of you? Just the two of us. Yeah. But I think probably one of our most memorable and amazing chases with our workshop groups was Kit Carson last year. Yeah. That was a grind. Like we drove all the way up there from like almost what were we in Fort Worth? No, I think we were in a man, it could have been Abilene. Yes, somewhere. think something like Abilene or something like that. We started the day out and drove all the way up to I-17, Colorado, got to Kit Carson storm. tornado. We stopped in a wheat field right as the tornado was dropping. And then that was the last day of the workshop. So we had to get back to Oklahoma City to pick up new guests in the morning. And drop our old guests off for boy. Yeah. through the night, we pulled up to the hotel at 5am and picked up clients again at 11am, but... There wasn't a single person in that vehicle that didn't think it was 1000 % worth, but... Yeah. We lacked sleep. Yup. Yeah. The pure unadulterated joy that those guests had witnessing that is a core memory for me. I mean, Tom, like, Thomas Nepchild was... driving our follow car. He was taking off like sprinting down the dirt road and all the clients are just jumping up and down and screaming. was just chaos. It was great. Thomas even springed his ankle like a cow patty that was there on the side. Yeah. I need to talk to Thomas on the podcast one of these days. He's got so much stuff to. How about we throw it back on you and what was your most memorable chase moment? Funny that's that's really though. We talked about Orla and you you just don't know how How amazing I felt because I I was actually the one that actually pointed to you and Amy like this one down here is going nuts It's it's tapping into the moisture and no it was there didn't produce a tornado no matter how many times I shared it with skip Talbot, know, dude, but what about this right and he's like, yeah, calm down little you know, little storm chaser. He didn't say that, but you know, just I got the validation. know, people were like, come on, it's it's it was a beautiful storm. But what made it what made it wonderful for me is is that, you know, I was out there by myself. I told myself, I think I know enough to get out to the plains. And of course, it's it's West Texas, you know, the Pecos Pecos Valley, not exactly the prettiest area. There's just just. oil trucks and oil rigs, oil derricks everywhere. But I knew that that was a storm. Once we saw it go up after Hope, New Mexico, I knew that that was a storm. And so I begrudgingly followed you through these muddy roads of Eastern New Mexico. And you got us to the highway. And then we split up. And I still went with my gut. And I still got right in front of this thing, right over the, you know, everything I did to see this epic beautiful rotating storm at sunset was for me, from me, But after that, every single thing about that whole trip for me was I can do this. I can really do this out of all of the... many years of lack of self-worth, self-confidence. I was like, I'm going to try this on my own. And I went out there, I did it, I forecasted it. I put myself right in front of this beautiful thing. And on top of it all, I time-lapsed it too. I was able to sit there, which is most important for me. I And I was able to do that. I was able to do that with Encino. was able to do that with the Stratford, Texas storm. I've sat there and watched it come right to me. And it's just the personal validation of knowing that I don't need anybody else, you know, to do this, that I don't need to follow someone's chaser dot. I don't need to be behind the dominator to find success. In fact, it's been so much more rewarding knowing that I can do this finally. The words of Tim Samaras. And it all comes down to self worth for me. Mental wellness, mental struggles and emotional struggles. all, I think every one of us chasers has a little bit strange about every one of us. There's something strange about all of us and that's what we can tap into or it can destroy us. And that's why I really am so glad to have you guys on because you've overcome those things as well. So I love to see it. What's the most exhilarating moment you guys have experienced? Not just memorable, but like, holy crap, we almost died, bro, you know, type of situation. And it doesn't have to be a near death. It doesn't have to be a near death, but. Oh gosh. I have a different one than the one. Oh, was that 2022? The midlothian? I think it was 2022. So April, 2022, I had flown out to New Mexico for my birthday to go shoot White Sands with everybody. I got horrifically sick. the day after I got there so sick. was just, I told him, was like, there's no way I can get on a plane. I can't do anything. He was gracious enough to drive me all the way back to college station. This was when we were long distance and I think it was to Austin to pick up. yeah. was either Houston or Austin. Cause my car was at the airport. Um, so anyway, we decided, to sort of kind of chase on the way back because there were storms going, near mid Lothian and We were photographing the storm, some lightning. Then there was this weird pallet fire that happened. We saw an explosion. We decided to go investigate that. And then we decided, oh, let's go get close to this storm. anyway, we're driving up close to the rotation. And it definitely put down a QLCS spin up right on top of us. Wow. The wonderful thing about Tim is he is the most calm in all situations. This man does not panic. If he's panicking, you know that things are really, really, really bad. Just his mental fortitude and his situational awareness is great. I didn't realize this, but the truck was actually being moved by the... the win, whether it was the tornado or the RFD push. But he like nose the truck in the wind. He's talking me through it. He's like, okay, I'm backing up into the stitch. I'm nosing the truck into the wind. Like we're going to be okay. ah But yeah, that was, that was, and that was, happened at midnight on my birthday. So I can safely say that he's gotten me into a tornado on my birthday, but yeah, we have the radar screen grab of that. We're, yeah, we're, right there in it. right on top of the QLCS. And that's hard to predict. No one can really, well, you can, but it's, QLCSs are no fun. I don't chase them, just, unless they chase me. ups on them most of the time, you know. Yeah. Is that the same experience with you? Yeah. the most exhilarating was we were chasing by Vaughn, monsoon chasing, know? Yeah. And I think we had just got some bolts through a rainbow kind of north of Vaughn. know, so we're riding that high and excited. We're literally right maybe a mile from Vaughn at the intersection that goes off to Fort Sumner. Mm-hmm. And all of a sudden it's just bright, this crazy bright light. then after, you know, this immediately, yeah, just explosive thunder. And, you know, we feel this shock and I'm like, we just got struck by lightning. Well, what happened is it, it struck maybe 20 feet from us right along the fence. Mm-hmm. we had our tripod set up along the fence, you know? And I was standing a good foot and a half from the fence, yeah. I was standing a foot and a half from the fence and it reached out and got us off the fence. Yeah, that was an experience. Lauren immediately pulled up her tripod and she went running to the car. I'm like sprinting to the car. I'm like, me out of here. And Tim's just, I look back and he's just amblin' to the car, like nothing bad just happened. How are you so composed in this moment? And I definitely had a bit of a panic attack afterwards. She did. It was a little bit talking her off of that leg for a while. then, you know, yeah. And you know, her arm was numb. I'm like, you know what? It's, you know, we're going to be OK. Drink her pulse, everything else. And, you know, my arm was numb probably for like a day after that. It's not fun. It's not fun, man. Yeah, no, it's not. think I'm definitely I have a healthy like I have a healthy respect for tornadoes, but I have a healthier fear of lightning because it is the most unpredictable element. Yeah, you never know. It's the driving and then the lightning are the most dangerous things. Yeah. And I liked, I do like to get really freaking, I love the crispness of a, of a, of an F eight or an F 11 bolt, using a 50 millimeter, but also having been able to see the, the refraction of the lenses, you know, the aperture blades on, on the turn of a lightning bolt. If you know, you know, but it's, just makes for the most stunning lightning photography and that's kind of my element. know, when I'm here in Arizona, I love being up on top of these, you know, some of these hills and the peaks and stuff out there. And I try to, I try to mitigate it. I try to stay in the vehicle and everything, but no pain, no gain. But I tell people, my, you know, my friend who's going to be with me on the plains this year, I just say, you know, hey, I need you in the car. Cause this is, in a kind of a little tricky situation. And he looks at me and he goes, basically, Repeating what's gonna be on my epitaph is she had a good run and he just looks he goes she had a good run I'm just like, you know it get my cameras in Yeah, yeah pretty much, you know getting back to real quickly before I want to take a look at some of your photos too Is there any advice that you would give to people that have gone through? Some of the things that you know, we've talked about we see it on on on online on social media. There's so much negativity There's people that want the validation, Lauren and Tim. They need that validation. I need more followers. I need a bigger account. I don't give, you know, I started over. I'm barely back on X right now I'm trying to be careful navigating, but I'm trying to protect my piece more than ever. Yeah. For sure. many people that are, especially the younger kids, they're wanting the kick or the twitch. They want to be famous, super famous. There's a lot of dangers to that. Your validation, it might not be looking towards an award, but it's from something else other than coming from inside. And I wonder if you have any advice on some, especially to the younger generation that are coming into this. Yeah, mine would be don't be afraid to do the internal work and understand where that kind of like insatiable need for validation comes from, whether it's, you know, looking for people to validate you or chasing clout or chasing more followers, all of the above. mean, there's always something within us that is unhealed or unfulfilled that is driving that. And so I think it's really important to be able to be like, be uncomfortable like with yourself and dig down and figure out where that's coming from. But also be open about it. Like don't be afraid to engage your community, your friends, your support system, even like Tim and I, like we're our doors, our phones, our DMs are always open. The last thing we want to see is anyone get hurt or even, you know, go through like some of the trials and the struggles that we have. Like we have a wealth of knowledge to offer and support as well. So I think it's easy to feel isolated and your own mind will isolate you. It's easy to feel trapped by your own mind and in your own mind and it will convince you that you are in this by yourself when you're really not. So like don't be afraid to reach out to others and to be honest about what you're going through. That's the most important thing, be honest with yourself and be honest with others. that's perfect. And it's perfect because it's the door is open and you don't have to be alone. You might feel alone, but you don't have to be. There are plenty of good people like you and so many others that are willing to help through that. not going to, you know, you're not going to do the work. Like you said, you got to do the self work. You're not going to do the work for someone. But at the same time, we can we can help each other through this. And I love that. Yeah, I think what I would say is, you know, try to surround yourself with not just, you know, people that are going to get you somewhere, just surround yourself with good hearted, genuine people that are going to be there to help prop you up during those hard times. And, you know, somebody that's going to listen and, you know, just kind of help you navigate those tricky waters and, There's something that I would always tell Lauren whenever she'd be, you know, thinking about what other people liked about her work or any of this other stuff or was down because she didn't, you know, place in a contest or something. forget them. Forget them. That's the nice way to put it. The diplomatic way. Yeah. Yeah. Just forget them. Yeah. You all have kind of quietly talked about your faith through this as well. Does that play a factor when you're out there and just in the way that you navigate the world? Because it's kind of a unique way of doing things. I know I'm hinting at some stuff, but you all, know, faith is a factor in the way that you guys navigate. At least that's the way I've seen it. Yeah, I definitely think that plays a role in how I walk through the world. I do have a lot of spiritual hurt that I won't go into here, but at least it has not impacted the way that I view my personal faith. especially when we're in... really risky situations or we see that there is a violent tornado on the ground, like headed for a populated area. Like I'm always engaging my faith in those moments and, you know, like asking, you know, for protection or people to be spared. I think that is probably the biggest way that I like look at storm chasing like through Mm-hmm. Sure, sure. Yeah, for me it's more of a, you know, just try to be a decent human being, you know, and that's kind of what helps me navigate through this. I got a close friend that really made an impact on me a while back at a chaser summit. His name is Kevin and we were there talking and you know, was the first time meeting him, you know, a good friend, Michael. He introduced us and we're there talking for hours. We're really engaged in this conversation and stuff. The next year, run into him at Chase for Summit again and he comes up to me. He's like, know what really, really made an impact on me with you last year? I asked him what? He said, most people I talk to, especially at something like this, because he considers himself a nobody in the stone community. but he awesome chaser, know, great dude. And he said, I'm used to people kind of just brushing me off when I talk to him and stuff. And he's like, you looked me dead in the eyes, you were engaging and you really made me feel heard. And that really stuck with me to where I try to be intentional when I talk to people and continue to do that because it obviously made an impact on him and to make somebody else feel heard in this community that might think they're, like we were talking earlier about somebody kind of just brushing off Lauren because they think that she's just riding coattails or something. You never know what somebody is going through. just be kind to them, listen to them, be intentional. So important. Every every person deserves dignity. And that yeah, I mean, that is the basis of the gospel, right? Like every human being deserves dignity. Thank you so much for sharing that, And Lauren, too, everything that the two of you have shared over the last, just the last 10 minutes right now, so deep and so heavy. I think that if we latch on to that, I think that our community could be better than any other community, to be honest with you, this subculture. But the fact is, you said people just want to be heard and seen. There's so many people who feel like they're nobodies in this community. You know, they're not always, they don't get the millions of views. They don't get this. They don't get the retweets. They get barely one, one like on something in an oftentimes you see these people, they'll post nothing. There's some accounts and they're good people. They're really good people too. And everybody's light deserves to be illuminated. You know, it deserves to shine as far and wide as possible. aisles i hope people watch this podcast because it's so good it's so good to listen to this and that's my hope is that we can make an a small indentation and into just some of the negativity and to fight all that and maybe, maybe elevate a few people in the process. So what is on your bucket list? You know, I want to see some pictures. So if you guys know where that share screen is, you can pull that up. But while you're doing that, I want to know what your bucket list is. What is something that Lauren and Tim have not captured that, you know, my God, is there anything you haven't captured? the bucket list for me since let's say 2010, 2011 or so is I would love to be inside of the dominator when there is a tornado on its way and intercepting. the dominator. So I think that would be I think Tim would be an excellent navigator. That would be top tier moment. But you Oh, gosh, I think bucket list item for me. I mean, yes, like riding the DOM would be just no, no, it is different. It is different. No, I, I want close range tornado footage with debris, right? I mean, I want the type of ripping out tree. Yeah. Footage like Aaron Rigsby and Adam Lucio and all, know, Freddie McKinney, like all of these, really seasoned, chasers get like, I, I want to get close, but I also want to get comfortable with being that close. Cause I still, I still struggle like when we are positioning like for closer. Intercept so that is absolutely like a bucket list item that I want or yeah And like Paige and Bryce like the footage they get is just like out of this world like I want that I mean, that's fair. I really I hate to tell you this, know, but you know seeing knowing that I got this beautiful tornado way off in the distance, you know if last year it was great, but seen Amy Howard's photo after again talk about like comparison here. I was like I kicked ass today. I got on this tornado warned storm. Everybody's at turkey right now chasing this beautiful HP mess, but there was no tornado out of it. It was just a big mess and I would have dealt with convergence. No conversions up there. So proud of myself and then I look at and I see Amy's because what I love to see was just that blue core that the tornado was encircling. It's just the structure and everything and she's looking up at it and it's just not hurting anybody and it's just to me that that's almost a twister movie where you're looking almost directly up at it and Amy was just like, this is so good and I was just, she's my hero for that shot and I'm just, I was able to like, okay, no FOMO, you know. Yeah, well, funny story, we started out in the same place she did that day and we did decide to go home. Yeah, it was it was after weeks of workshop. It was that was like my fourth or fifth week out on the road. I was just. was Nara Visa anyway, so come on. It's kind of hard to beat that. Yeah. And we were so stoked that Amy and you and the maybe like one other chaser on that storm. Yeah, there was. I know. know. Take was on that too. Yeah. With the workshop. yeah, that's right. Yeah. Nice, nice. So it's always good to go for the secondary target. Don't, don't be afraid. I'm I, that's what my piece of advice is. I am a secondary target queen when it comes to that. I'm have to, I'm gonna edit all the Facebook page stuff off. Yeah, we can go from there. There we go. What the heck? Where's the other ones? Is that them all? Yeah, Can you tell us about just a couple of these as we go through these real quick as we as we wrap this up? Yeah, this is one of my narrow visa shots from this last year. Just epic. didn't see a single building out there when I was chasing out there, Holland, but trying to get a time lapse on this. Well, I have a running map of probably 2000 points in the plane in New Mexico of stuff like this. And I know your other job as well has probably helped you being out there a lot. So to get those points, really jealous about that. That's fantastic. I had a home court advantage on this day, No fair, no fun. No, but it's still a beautiful shot. You know what? And you all caught something different than many other people did. So I love that too. Look at this. Yeah, my finger got shot from 2021. Funny story about this photo. This is one of the first photos I saw of Tim's and I told him like you could propose to me with this photo. This was after we've been dating for like a month mind you. So maybe a month. I'm glad it didn't scare him off. It was like 12 hours. man. What a gorgeous shot, though, dude. Look at the whole thing is just chef's kiss. storm for that one. Yeah. in the... we did get some hail dropping on us here and there, uh this was over by Chilgris, And you either pick the Northern Road or the Southern Road. And this road right in between them. So I ended up picking the Northern Road on that and it worked out. We saw five tornadoes that day or something like that. It almost looks like an LP storm. mean, just look at just an LP tornado, but there's a lot of hail being launched into that one. was such a unique view that I had never seen before. Like I'm never on the other side of the storm like that. Such a nice edit too, by the way. Like, look at the white of the clouds on the outside, the lower clouds, and then that little bit of turquoise inside there. Beautiful. This was the shot I talked about earlier. This was the first night. Yeah, was something else. that's the Rozzell shot that I was talking about. with the burn? oh barber, barber pole at sunset. Yeah. Yeah. goals for me. These are goal shots all of them by the way so I really love those LP shots I'm hoping to get stuff like this this year. Monster. Yeah, one of probably my favorite tornado shot I've ever taken Harlan, Iowa on 42624. I actually shot this to the windshield of our rav as we were driving quickly down that road. Funny story, someone did accuse that shot of being. the location that you guys were on this? I'm trying to figure it out. I see the forward flank on the other side. A lot of rain on the other side. were just about directly south of it. Okay, it's all a pretty good spot to be in then. I mean, it's perfect. It sounds like perfect positioning. ah Yeah, that's the beginning stages of Naravisa, right as it was starting to sculpt. that part where it's sculpted. And then I went out there and a whole bunch of other people showed up. And again, I was like, I am proud of myself. I saw this come in and I raced out there and then a bunch of other people showed up. So I was really happy with that. That is. Kit Carson. Yeah, just. the one Thomas was on also? You got that tornado off in the distance? Oh man. Such a beauti- yeah, that's what I'm- this is what I'm going for. This- this kind of stuff, not that low contrast stuff I've seen recently. Not- not digging on anybody for chasing recently, not at all, but um, this- this is the reason I go out, you guys, when I see this kind of stuff. Yes. Uh, and of course, this one. yep, the award winning Narvi Seshad that truly changed my life. Good for you and did you know we gotta get to this house? We gotta get to this building? You went straight for it. Oh, that's the way to do it. was already there when we pulled up. See what I like about this uh kind of view of the storm is it looks like a Chihuahua with a mullet in his eyes squinting. my God. Up here, right? my, my gosh. Oh, why did you have to say that? You just ruined it. I don't, you know, I guess, I don't know. I see more of a, a pirate and I see that this, this like beard or a mustache, long mustache, but don't make me matrix these things. Not a chihuahua. That's not fair, man. That's not. to bring down the impact of that shot. my gosh. Yeah, I don't know why he didn't send more shots. Award-winning shots and and by the way, you know as as we end we got it We got to end with chihuahua. Unfortunately, sorry folks But I'm not a fan of chihuahuas because they pee all over the place and they bark and they don't shut up and all that stuff My German Shepherd is my my heart but so how can people find out? Find more and where can they find your work They need to see more than just these. where can they find the rest of your work, Tim and Lauren? Yeah, I take 30,000 storm photos a year, so it's hard to narrow down. What's that? Oh yeah. Definitely. I think four terabytes a year on storms. For me on Facebook, it's Storm Chaser Tim Baca On Instagram, I believe it's Tim Baca WX. Yeah, Tim Baca WX, I meant. I think Tim Baca, weather on X. Yeah, weather spilled out. And Timbacafotography.com is where I have all my prints and stuff. Yeah, Laurenbacafotography.com is my website, and also print store and then I'm Storm Chaser Lauren Baca on Facebook, Lauren Baca WX on Instagram, and also X as well. And then our workshops you can find on extremesthotoworkshops.com. Extremephotoworkshops.com. this has been a great interview. This has been awesome to finally get to sit down with you two. Honestly, I don't have FOMO. that I don't get to chase with you. Yeah, I'd love to be able to chase with you guys sometime. But my FOMO is I don't get to have that relationship that you have with so many other amazing people in person just because of our distance and stuff. I love seeing that and I love seeing that you all are so welcoming and affirming and just making sure that everybody knows, just like you said, Tim, what you said about that one guy that they feel seen. And I think that's so important. and you don't have a chip on your shoulder. Now that you won that award that you wanted, many of course, yes, yes, it's okay. It's okay to step into that power and go, yes, I did it. This is my accomplishment. um And then move from there and move forward. Now you have to have a new goal. What's your new goal? our new goal really is to mentor the next generation of storm photographers. We're both pretty much retired from the stormies. Tim is still, like it's his turn now for New Mexico Mag. But truly, we want to see this next generation of storm photographers even eclipse what we've done. And we want to mentor people and help them develop their eye for composition, learn fine art. post-processing if that's their goal. So truly, if you have photography questions or you want photo critiques or just need advice or guidance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Yep, definitely. I love that and with that, I think we're going to leave it at that because people need to know people are open and when they say don't hesitate to reach out, They're telling you right now, reach out to them. So Tim and Lauren, yes, yes. Thanks so much again for coming on to the podcast. I can't wait to hopefully meet you guys out on the under a mezzo this year. Hopefully get, know, cause I, I, I'm to give both of you guys a hug too, but it's going to be like a big We want a Lori sandwich. em and stuff. So I appreciate it. Tim and Lauren. thank you so much for coming on the podcast and Laurie. It's been such a fun conversation. Thanks so much. That's gonna wrap it up everybody. I hope you all got something from these two incredible people and in their struggles and their victories and in some of the most beautiful things that they shared here. So that's gonna be it. We'll talk to you later and shine your light while you still have it. Take care everyone. Bye bye.