Through the Eyes of Luca Vezzosi: Featured Photographer in the 'Pursuit of Power' SWE Calendar (August 2026)

The Pursuit of Power — Severe Weather Calendar 2026 showcases Europe’s leading storm chasers through their most powerful weather imagery. The eight month, August 2026, features storm chaser Luca Vezzosi with a photo of an intense lightning bolts illuminating the port of La Spezia, Italy.

The interview series for featured photographs in each monthly edition of the calendar offers a closer look into the photographer behind the scenes, his approach to photography, his passion, and his striking storm images.

Don’t forget to follow Luca’s social channels and support his work — you’ll find all the links at the bottom of the interview.

About the Photographer – Introduction: Luca Vezzosi

Let’s start simple — who are you? How old are you, and where in Europe do you call home?

My name is Luca Vezzosi, and I’m a landscape photographer and storm chaser.

I’m 31 years old, I spend a lot of my time on photography, from planning to editing, I live in Northern Italy, in a small city called Fidenza.

When did your passion for storms and photography begin? Was there a specific moment that pulled you into chasing?

It started when I was a child, around 7/8 years old, with snow passing through the landscapes (overall, mountains) and culminating in severe storms around 2016, when I had my very first jump into the storm-chasing world, helped by a dear friend, Andrea.

Gear & Chasing Setup

What’s inside your camera bag and chase vehicle today? Any must-have gear you never leave home without?

Oh well, that’s a good question, I often forget something at home, but I will never go without my tripod and my Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 combined with the old Nikon D7200, my favourite camera.

I actually have another Nikon, the D750, with many lenses: 50mm f/1.4, 24-70 f/2.8, and 70-300 f5.6/6.3.

What part of storm chasing gives you the biggest adrenaline rush or emotional high?

That’s a difficult question. Supercells give me a type of adrenaline, but lightnings too, probably if i have to chose i could say a severe rotating storm illuminated by extra-cloud or positive CG during a nightchase, when you pass from the darkness to the dream just standing in front of a beautiful structure with mesocyclone and wallcloud.

In these moments i have always a mix of emotions and realize how beautiful and strength is the nature.

The Chase Experience

The photo we selected for the calendar is genuinely inspiring. What was the atmosphere like around you — the mood, the light, the energy of the storm — and what went through your mind as you pressed the shutter?

That night, the atmosphere was explosive. A lot of storms at sea were exploding near and over us, so it was not easy to take pictures, but past years’ experience and knowledge of the area made the difference.

We put the cameras on the tripods and settled them, till an isolated storm started to throw CG behind and towards us.

It was probably one of the most dangerous chases of my life. We were embarrassed by the crazy activity that night; it looked like a bombing.

How far has this passion taken you? In how many countries have you chased or photographed storms so far?

I focalized on my country during these year but i would like to chase in many other regions like France and Croatia for lightning and Slovenia for the beautiful shelfclouds.

I can say that if you chase in Italy, you could also be satisfied because in the Po Valley, you will have supercells, and on the sea, you will find very nice lightnings, so a lot of times it’s difficult to plan a trip in another region when you could have beautiful thunderstorms near home.

Tell us about your chase vehicle — is it a normal car, or have you turned it into a lightning-hunting machine? Do you chase solo or with partners?

Thinking about the size of the hail in recent years, it would probably be better if I invented something for my poor car, hahaah, but no, I’ve got a stocked Subaru, it’s a strong car, and I hope it will never leave me alone.

With my stormchaser friends, we mapped a large number of spots or bridges where we can find cover in case of severe storms.

Yes, I chase overall with my friend Mirko, and sometimes with many other guys from all over northern Italy. It’s so beautiful to share this passion with other passionate people.

Describe your ultimate dream chase: location, storm structure, light, terrain — the perfect scene.

Oh nice question, mmm probably i have to go back to one of my first serious chase, 11 May 2019, i chased near Montagnana with my friend Mirko (his first chase) and we find the perfect storm with an incredible structure, a classic supercell.

When I think of this day, I remember it like a dream… sunset lights, colours, structure, landscapes all perfect, and it was very slow and pretty quiet, not like the brutal storm with high risk of destruction.

Be honest: a powerful supercell forms 20 km away… right as a boring work meeting is about to start. What happens next?

Not the best answer for a stormchaser but for sure i will find another new work ahaha.

My head will immediately find a solution, quickly check the radar, search for the structure report, and then run! One missed storm means lost photos, so any excuse is good if possible!

Inspiration & Milestones

Which storm chasers or photographers have inspired your journey? Anyone you look up to, even today?

When I started, I was absolutely inspired by Marko Korosec and Dean Gill from Europe, and, without doubt, Mike Olbinski and Pecos Hank from the USA.

I also remember at the begin i dreamed to chase with Zenastormchaser from italy, that’s became real in the past years but i could list many others team and photographers from all over the world.

What moment in your chasing or photography career are you most proud of — a capture, a trip, or a personal milestone?

If i think at myself, when I started and where I’m now, i can only be grateful for all the trips, the captures and the new peoples I met during the last years by chasing storms so I think it’s all experience and why not, mat be the best is yet to come?

But if I have to choose one… well, probably the day of Montagnana will rest in my favourite list, with the setup from 19 September 2021: 3 tornadoes, crazy structure, and the lights that day were so beautiful. I probably won’t chase anything like that again in Italy.

What’s the closest call you’ve ever had? Any dangerous moments you’ll never forget, and what did you learn from them?

7th August 2019, Cavriago, we were inexperienced. The supercell kicked us while we were running into a petrol station. All the objects flew away. The car was rolled by the severe wind for more than 6 minutes.

It looked endless, a brutal downburst with small hail. I’ve never seen something similar since that day. The roof of the house and the industry near us were found in the middle of the fields, and many small trucks were completely overturned by the gusts.