It's that time of year - Lightning on the Jersey Bay

[B Kennedy]

Hey all. I've been so motivated with all the postings on lightning to finally post a couple of my own lightning pics. The last picture is my fav, I only wished I had exposed for longer to get more lightning in in. My guestimate is that that bolt was about 1/2 mile away, and if you look closely it's coming out of the water/or the dock. Enjoy, some C&C would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dylan-Fishman]

Love #3

I think you should dull the light coming from the house in #3. It's a bit distracting

 

[curly]

awesome! i do agree #3 is my favorite

 

[DSPhotography]

I have always wanted to get some lightning shots, but never seem to be in the right place at the right time. But I have to ask, what settings did you use? I'd at least like to be prepared in case I ever AM in the right place at the right time.

Oh and I absolutely love #3! (#2 is a close second)

 

[gopal]

second too bears good but third is everyones liking....
yesterday i was watching on ''Discovery'' about Tarnados, and it were fantastic lightnings. thanks for sharing.

 

[CareToPose]

That light is stealing the focus!

 

[B Kennedy]

I have always wanted to get some lightning shots, but never seem to be in the right place at the right time. But I have to ask, what settings did you use? I'd at least like to be prepared in case I ever AM in the right place at the right time.

Oh and I absolutely love #3! (#2 is a close second)

Thanks for the comment! I took this one at about a 2 min exposure at f14, manually focus'd to infinity, 32mm, iso 100. I love shooting lightning and luckily for this shot I was underneath a bridge. I find it always difficult where I am to shoot lightning, because usually by the time I see the lightning, the rain is already there. I kinda liked this location and I'll prolly go back for another storm, but this time I'll be shooting for more lightning, maybe say 6 min exposures or more:thumbup:

 

[DSPhotography]

I have always wanted to get some lightning shots, but never seem to be in the right place at the right time. But I have to ask, what settings did you use? I'd at least like to be prepared in case I ever AM in the right place at the right time.

Oh and I absolutely love #3! (#2 is a close second)

Thanks for the comment! I took this one at about a 2 min exposure at f14, manually focus'd to infinity, 32mm, iso 100. I love shooting lightning and luckily for this shot I was underneath a bridge. I find it always difficult where I am to shoot lightning, because usually by the time I see the lightning, the rain is already there. I kinda liked this location and I'll prolly go back for another storm, but this time I'll be shooting for more lightning, maybe say 6 min exposures or more:thumbup:

So you're focused to inf, then just open the shutter and wait 2 min to capture any lightning?

 

[B Kennedy]

yes, the image sensor captures light, the premise of how a picture is taken. The darker the scene, the more light you need to "expose" the sensor with to be able to record it. So any burst of light that travels into your view will be recorded. As an example do a long exposure and run in front of the camera and see what happens. Then run in front of the camera while holding a flashlight pointing it towards teh camera. The sensor will record that bright light, but because it didn't have enough time to capture the very small amount of ambient light that was illuminating you, you won't be seen in the picture yet the light from the flashlight will. Now multiply that by the speed of light, and thats how the lightning gets captured. So you compose your shot, do some test shots to make sure you're exposing the scene how you want, and during that exposure any lightning that happens in your field of view will then be captured.

Hope this helps.

 

[DSPhotography]

yes, the image sensor captures light, the premise of how a picture is taken. The darker the scene, the more light you need to "expose" the sensor with to be able to record it. So any burst of light that travels into your view will be recorded. As an example do a long exposure and run in front of the camera and see what happens. Then run in front of the camera while holding a flashlight pointing it towards teh camera. The sensor will record that bright light, but because it didn't have enough time to capture the very small amount of ambient light that was illuminating you, you won't be seen in the picture yet the light from the flashlight will. Now multiply that by the speed of light, and thats how the lightning gets captured. So you compose your shot, do some test shots to make sure you're exposing the scene how you want, and during that exposure any lightning that happens in your field of view will then be captured.

Hope this helps.

Oh I know how to do long exposures =P
I was just wanting to clarify that that's what you meant.. depending on the frequency of strikes, 2 minutes could get a lot more than one good bolt. So what I was asking is, did you close you shutter once a bolt of lightning struck (even if it only took 30 seconds from the time you opened the shutter), or did you continue to allow the shutter to stay open after the lightning (and these particular pictures are from a storm that had infrequent lightning)?

 

[B Kennedy]

I would keep the shutter open for the entire duration I wanted. So if the lightning stuck at 30 seconds, keep it open until the 2min I wanted.

 

[DSPhotography]

I would keep the shutter open for the entire duration I wanted. So if the lightning stuck at 30 seconds, keep it open until the 2min I wanted.

Gotcha. That's what I was wondering. Also, sorry if I sounded like an ass.. not trying to lol =P

 

[B Kennedy]

I would keep the shutter open for the entire duration I wanted. So if the lightning stuck at 30 seconds, keep it open until the 2min I wanted.

Gotcha. That's what I was wondering. Also, sorry if I sounded like an ass.. not trying to lol =P

lol its all good, I didn't think you came across like that.