Mike Olbinski Photography

Mike Olbinski Photography Mike Olbinski is an Emmy-winning storm chaser, photographer and filmmaker based in Phoenix, Arizona.

09/04/2026

Monsoon 8 is in the works, stay tuned!

09/03/2026

Incredible explosive sunset colors. From dull grays to fire orange in minutes

This storm was an absolute beaut back on August 11th in the Kansas Settlement area of southeastern Arizona. After we cap...
09/01/2026

This storm was an absolute beaut back on August 11th in the Kansas Settlement area of southeastern Arizona. After we captured the rainbowbomb moment just before sunset, the storm held together and finally started dropping banger lightning bolts as it crossed over the area. So fun to share this with some private workshop guests who had never captured photos like these before!

Canon USA R5 + RF 10-20mm

Monsoon chasers would likely agree that clear air bolts (or bolts from the blue) are definitely a rarity compared to nor...
08/31/2026

Monsoon chasers would likely agree that clear air bolts (or bolts from the blue) are definitely a rarity compared to normal strikes. They account for only 5-10% of lightning bolts worldwide, but in the desert southwest, it has to be an even lower percentage.

All that being said, sometimes you get nights like last night, where it seemed they were dropping everywhere on certain storms, maybe even being the dominant type of strike. I watched this storm west of Gila Bend and captured at least 5-6 of them in about 15 minutes. I had been further south earlier and trying to get north, and I could see ANOTHER storm to the north drop at least 10 of them while I was screaming in frustration at being too far away 🤣

Fun chase yesterday! Technically we seem to be in transition season now, with the monsoon high displaced to the midwest and the southwest under the influence of the jet stream and troughing. Sure makes things more interesting!

Canon USA 5DSR + 50mm 1.2 L

08/31/2026

The bolts were flying out the top of storms right and left tonight!

A lovely storm over Eloy last night! It didn't start dropping bolts until it had been going on for awhile, I almost gave...
08/30/2026

A lovely storm over Eloy last night! It didn't start dropping bolts until it had been going on for awhile, I almost gave up hope...but then it went nuts. Gorgeous colors in the sky, this will be a fantastic time-lapse.

More on tap today!

Canon USA R5 + RF 10-20mm

08/30/2026

Lovely storm yesterday evening!

08/28/2026

Nothing beats Arizona lightning

Yesterday evening west of Santa Rosa, I got to watch this storm blow up in the late evening and started shooting it befo...
08/28/2026

Yesterday evening west of Santa Rosa, I got to watch this storm blow up in the late evening and started shooting it before it ever dropped a bolt, all the way to kicking out about 50 of them as it drifted north. This early one though was utterly spectacular. I have some nice time-lapses of it as well, which is great because catching a storm before it gets going up to the moment it starts dropping lightning is always a difficult goal.

Canon USA 5DSR + 50mm 1.2

08/27/2026

This was a gorgeous AZ supercell from 8/19/26 that quickly dumped its core and blasted me with dust 🔥

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