Filmed and Edited by: Matt Hollamon
After some serious debate over this film and whether it would happen or if I should add content from 2021 to beef it up, I came to the conclusion that 2020 deserves it own place in my library. I fell in love with the music from the first sample and knew that it was exactly what I wanted, so it was on from there. The pace is slower and much more deliberate compared to my previous offerings, but it is a fantastic pairing with the footage I collected this year.
Chasing storms as a registered nurse during a global pandemic was a challenge to say the least. 2020 forced me to be adaptable. Safety for my family, friends, coworkers and most importantly my patients, turned into my top priority. I scrapped plans for my annual two week plains chase in May and just chased when I could, usually closer to home. That being said, I still managed to chase 24 or so different days, spanning from March to October. I made it to seven different states through all of it. I missed events like Sublette KS and Arnold NE that I normally would have seen with my own eyes, but at that time, I was where I needed to be. For me personally it seemed like 2020 was the year of the LP and the shelf cloud, not always what I’m looking for, but always beautiful to photograph and to time lapse. I saw my first birthday tornado in March when I turned 50 and two others for the year but didn’t have the chance to photograph any of them. Each of those 24 chase days, whether the day was epic or a bust, brought balance into my life and helped me to reset and be the best I could be in my professional life. So while it was not the year any of us were looking for, it’s the year that was, and still deserves its place. I will always be thankful for the experiences and blessings. This is my fourth season recap, and while content dictates quality to some degree, I feel like I am getting better at this as I go. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it, and thank you for taking the time to look.