From Storm Photography - Tips for shooting storms

Goldeeno

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just to add to this as we are heading into the summers storms season, ive as of yet never shot a storm, any good settings, or tips? My camera/lens etc is at bottom. What sort of setup works best. Granted every storm changes and there tempremental, but im not sure where to start :S.

Cheers
 
personally i use this method, if you close down the aperture to the highest (smallest) setting and set the shutter to bulb and then hold it open with a remote, once the lightning hits release, the lightning will act as a flash and expose what is important, the rest will be dark. this only works in an unlit area at night however.
 
I don't have the patiences so I set my camera to timelapse, either in the camera itself or using a laptop and usb cable along with Nikon Camera control or the Canon equivalent software. Set it to 10second exposures at f/16 ISO100, and set the interval to 10 seconds. Come back after it's passed and prey lol.
 
Umm, day or night?

Night time, Try Garbz's idea.

Daytime, use your spot meter and meter on the clouds. That way you get the overall exposure right and then you fine tune by metering on a lighter cloud if you wan the photo dark and moody or a dark cloud if you want the photo to look brighter with more detail.

Oh, BTW, cameras do not appreciate being struck by lightning so please be careful!

mike
 
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Oh, BTW, cameras do not appreciate being struck by lightning so please be careful!

mike

Neither do the photographers behind them! :D I just set my camera on aperture priority for a small aperture around f/8 to f/11. I then let the camera meter for the sky (which at night should be really dark :D ) and it chooses the shutter time. Put it on remote and fire away! This image is the result of that process, which took a "Pick of the Week" prize on www.accuweather.com
 
Yeah im feeling that photo, im just gonna have to wait till the thunder comes, weather forecast it humid, but plenty of cloud, hopefully wont have to wait too long. Cheers all how risky is shooting in a thunder storm? You got me worried now! lol
 
Yeah im feeling that photo, im just gonna have to wait till the thunder comes, weather forecast it humid, but plenty of cloud, hopefully wont have to wait too long. Cheers all how risky is shooting in a thunder storm? You got me worried now! lol

Its not as risky if your smart about it. Just keep a few things in mind, such as where you are and where the storm is happening around you. Remember, if you can see or hear lightning, you can be hit.

That being said, I obviously cannot be held responsible for the safety of this method. The safest thing I've found to do is take your pictures from inside a parking garage. This keeps you and your camera dry, along with some protection from the storm. That picture I posted was taken from inside a parking garage. I just zoom my lens in far enough to block out the garage, but still have an interesting composition, then shoot away! Cities make good foregrounds for lightning, but some of the best are in the countryside, where there really is no place to hide. I've heard of people taking the pictures from inside their car before. I'm personally crazy enough to take them from outside, however... :confused:

There's a pretty large storm headed in to my area tonight around 7PM (Midwest US). It should be a good lightning show! :D I hope it goes well and doesn't get rain-wrapped before I can shoot it... :D
 

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