Lightening!

[PixelRabbit]

I went outside to check the sky because I heard thunder in the distance, suddenly it wasn't so distant! That was my cue to leave. Upside, got my best shot of lightening yet so I'm getting better at it, downside, it's not "the" shot, the quest continues!

 

[squirrels]

Nice, PR! I haven't had any luck with lightening shots.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Thanks C, I usually end up with a little stick that might be lightening or we are stuck in the rain and no way to see through, got lucky this time! I want one of those shots with all of the branches shooting off, the power, the clouds rolling, the whole shebang! We are not in a great spot to catch that shot, we are in a bit of a valley and other than this view we are in a fishbowl, we totally have to get up to the cottage and catch some August storms rolling in off Lake Huron.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Cool new avatar btw C!

 

[squirrels]

Thanks C, I usually end up with a little stick that might be lightening or we are stuck in the rain and no way to see through, got lucky this time! I want one of those shots with all of the branches shooting off, the power, the clouds rolling, the whole shebang! We are not in a great spot to catch that shot, we are in a bit of a valley and other than this view we are in a fishbowl, we totally have to get up to the cottage and catch some August storms rolling in off Lake Huron.

Ooo! I want to see that shot! Are you doing long exposures and hoping for the best? I tried that an ended up with too much ambient (couldn't see the lightening at all).

Thanks! I played with self portraits last night with mixed results (http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/people-photography/334277-self-portraits.html).

I like your groovy new avatar too!:thumbup:

 

[PixelRabbit]

I'd like to see it too!

This time I was more looking to catch the front edge of the storm coming in when I went out, the clouds were too even to get anything good then I saw lightening to my right, framed up the shot straight ahead and waited for a strike to test my reaction time lol. This was the second half or second strike, I'm pretty sure I hit the shutter too late for the first but caught this one. I've tried longer exposures during the day but without a filter I also end up with overexposed shots.

 

[tirediron]

Nicely captured PR!!! We never get lightening in my neck of the woods!

 

[PixelRabbit]

Thanks John

Depending on the year we can get a lot of lightening here, a few years back we had a couple years in a row of a lot of storms, it got to the point we didn't watch it every time because they were so frequent, the past few years not so much August is known to be a turbulent weather month here so fingers crossed for August!

 

[kundalini]

Cool shot. I've only had a few chances to get some of those.


This may be a culture difference between countries, similar to adding a "u" to certain words, but I thought I'd pass this along.
Lightening vs Lightning

 

[bc_steve]

I'd like to see it too!

This time I was more looking to catch the front edge of the storm coming in when I went out, the clouds were too even to get anything good then I saw lightening to my right, framed up the shot straight ahead and waited for a strike to test my reaction time lol. This was the second half or second strike, I'm pretty sure I hit the shutter too late for the first but caught this one. I've tried longer exposures during the day but without a filter I also end up with overexposed shots.

that sounds really hard, trying to time pressing the shutter release at the exact right time! I just use one of those remote cable releases and lock it with the button pushed down so that it repeatedly takes pictures. Then I go through later and delete all the ones without any lightning strikes and with any luck there are a few good ones.

also apparently there is now some sort of lightning trigger for taking daytime lightning shots. An ND filter should work as well though.

 

[limr]

Cool shot. I've only had a few chances to get some of those.


This may be a culture difference between countries, similar to adding a "u" to certain words, but I thought I'd pass this along.
Lightening vs Lightning

(Not a cultural difference, but a meaning difference. "Lightening" is from the verb "to lighten" meaning to make something lighter (this also works for making something easier to carry, i.e. 'lightening the load'.) "Lightning" is the thing that goes along with thunder, like in the OP's picture. Which makes this sentence ironic: "I tried that an ended up with too much ambient (couldn't see the lightening at all)." )