Kaboom... The storm Came in Let me know what you think.

Sachphotography · Jul 21, 2009

I noticed we had a storm coming in and grabbed my gear and went to the lake. Yes I went to the lake at 2 A.M. I shot a few diff angles and ended up shooting this area. I was happy and out of nowhere KABOOM two of the towers opposite lakeside got hit. I had my shutter open on a 15 sec exposure and had a overwhelming sense of excitement come over me. Once I saw the preview I knew I had a good one. Let me know what your think.
D80
18mm f/3.5
15 Sec Exposure
100 Iso

This is the first of many, but I am sure this is the best one. I finished it about 10 min ago. There is a ton more lighting outside right no but is pouring rain..... Anywho. Let me know your thoughts.
CHEERS

willma88 · Jul 21, 2009

wow! What an amazing capture!

Makes me wanna go out on a stormy morning (2am) and do some of this myself!

Phranquey · Jul 21, 2009

Definitely a very lucky capture. I have been trying to catch lightning striking something like a watertower for years...

My only critique would be to shoot lightning a f/8 or lower to crispen it.

UUilliam · Jul 21, 2009

uh is that real or a photomanip? it look very surreal especially with one bolt being violet and the other tangy

eitherway very nice but...
HOW THE HELL DO YOU CAPTURE LIGHTING!!!
i mean its there for about 0.005 seconds then gone!
id love to shoot lighting, we had it here a little while back.. .seems every where atm is getting it... could this be?
the Apocalypse!

willma88 · Jul 21, 2009

you set your exposure to bulb and just keep holding it i think.

Silverdreamer3 · Jul 21, 2009

cool shot! my dream shot would be to capture lighting stricking a church bell tower. I also use the bulb setting when shooting lightning.

Sachphotography · Jul 21, 2009

I shot that at f/3.5 I did soften the picture. It is my style. (ethereal) I to noticed the different color bolts. I don't know why they are diff but they are. This is about a 1/3 frame crop. A 3rd bolt actually hit another tower in the frame but I think this looks better as the other bolt is not100% in the frame. I think maybe the reason they are dif is due to where they are in relation to the city lights. Maybe IDK

Bellaboo · Jul 22, 2009

Fantastic shot, actually made me say "wow" quietly to myself :lol:

EricD · Jul 23, 2009

lightning bolts are often different colors due to atmosphere conditions, rain, etc.
Great captures!!

dak1b · Jul 23, 2009

cool shot..a lil soft though...

johngpt · Jul 23, 2009

UUilliam said:
uh is that real or a photomanip? it look very surreal especially with one bolt being violet and the other tangy

eitherway very nice but...
HOW THE HELL DO YOU CAPTURE LIGHTING!!!
i mean its there for about 0.005 seconds then gone!
id love to shoot lighting, we had it here a little while back.. .seems every where atm is getting it... could this be?
the Apocalypse!

Most of my lightning photos have purple casts to the clouds. It has to do with the physics of light, with blue, indigo, and violet being at the short wavelength end of the electromagnetic spectrum.

There are two main techniques to shooting lightning. If there are frequent enough lightning bolts crossing through the clouds, the easiest technique is to set your shutter speed between 15 and 30 seconds. It doesn't seem to matter what ISO is used or what aperture is used, although I try to use the "sweet spot" aperture for my lens of choice. This is often in the medium apertures for most lenses, about f/8 to f/11.

Lightning is just like second curtain flash photography. Your long shutter speed is letting in some ambient light, then the lightning bolt is just like the second curtain flash. If the lightning flashes are coming frequently enough, you might even capture two or more hits in each image. Presto!

Oh, and great catch BTW, Daniel!

Phranquey · Jul 23, 2009

UUilliam said:
eitherway very nice but...
HOW THE HELL DO YOU CAPTURE LIGHTING!!!
i mean its there for about 0.005 seconds then gone!
id love to shoot lighting, we had it here a little while back.. .seems every where atm is getting it... could this be?
the Apocalypse!

I posted this early last year.....go down to post #15

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/landscape-cityscape/114461-little-lightning-anyone.html

johngpt · Jul 23, 2009

Phranquey said:
I posted this early last year.....go down to post #15

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/landscape-cityscape/114461-little-lightning-anyone.html

Excellent stuff Phranquey, both the images and the advice.