A reception is planned Friday night at the Cafe Pony Espresso for Robin Lorenson, a nationally known freelance weather photographer. Ms Lorenson will greet customers and offer framed photos for sale, with ten percent of each purchase being donated to the St Joe YWCA’s Shelfter for Abused and Homeless Women and Children.

Robin has strongly-held beliefs about domestic violence, and about the weather, that date back to the death of her father when she was a young girl.

“My way of coping with everything was the weather,” she says. “I grew up in Salina, Kansas. In Central Kansas you’ve got severe storm season.”

“You’ve got everything: sitting under the porch, wind, hail, rain. Experiencing all of that was my way of connecting back with my dad.”

On Thursday, Robin mounted the exhibit of nearly a dozen vivid photographs. They range from depictions of serene blue skies with vivid but harmless clouds, to some dramatic depictions of a series of severe weather phenomena. The photos remind us that the severe weather season is upon us.

One photograph, which she says is her most popular, depicts a red barn in front of a wall cloud. The barn seems to come to life, with an expression that reminded her of a young character in a popular movie.

“My first thing went to this barn. It kind of has this look on its face, like ‘oh my goodness.’ It kind of reminded me of McCauley Caulkin’s face, when he put that after shave on, when he was like ‘aagh!'”

“That’s kind of what it reminded me of, and then having the wall cloud behind it, and the way that it was rotating, and how dark it was with the lighter foreground, with the sun and the process and setting…to me it just said I need to get this shot.”

You can meet Robin tonight at a reception from 6pm to 9pm Friday night at Cafe Pony Espresso, 114 S. Eighth St. in downtown St Joseph. The exhibition will remain on display through the end of April.