Shooting Lightning...

[StephanieHamar]

Most of my good opportunities for lightning shots are during the day. I have not yet been successful in pressing the shutter quickly enough after I notice lightning to get a daytime image. I know it is a lot more difficult than doing the exposures at night. Are there any good tricks, or do I need to develop mad button-pressing skills to do this? Would using an off-camera release be useful?

 

[farmerj]

if you REALLY want to get serious about it and have enough lightening to justify it...

Capture the Lightning Landscape with the Lightning Trigger!

Late late at night in the middle of the country, I use bulb.

Have tried a couple times at 15-30 seconds.

 

[Buckster]

"Thanked" for the tips. I recently tried during the day with a polarizer and 3 stop ND, but still only achieved about a 4 sec shutter speed @ f/16 or 18. Do you stack ND's during the day? I did get one strike though, but don't have it hosted to share at the moment.

I've never personally tried lightning during the day, but I do occasionally use NDs for waterfalls or other effects during the day, and I agree - they don't give much time unless you stack up a lot of ND in front of the lens.

I think I saw Derrell mention a 10 stop ND out there somewhere? I've heard of folks puttting two circular polarizers in front of the lens and rotating them against each other to make a variable ND as well. As they turn, they act together to cut more and more light, and at some point in the rotation, they cut out all light from entering the lens entirely.

 

[8ball]

my one questions is what do you do as far a focusing? what do you foucs on and if its dark how do you focus?

 

[Mustlovedragons]

You guys SUCK!! (and by that I mean that I am seething with jealousy bc the lightning shot is my "Eleanor"...the one that always eludes me) Awesome shots!

 

[farmerj]

my one questions is what do you do as far a focusing? what do you foucs on and if its dark how do you focus?

You can figure that out during ANY shooting.

Set your lens to infinity and see if and where it truly is infinity. It's not actually on the symbol

 

[bazooka]

Thanks for the tip Buckster. I just ordered a custom 7-stop 85mm square ND from a manufacturer in the UK. I plan on just taping it to the front of the lens, but I also have a Cokin filter holder as well. formatt .co .uk It was only $70 with shipping! They make up to a 10-stop, but I heard that it gives a pretty nasty color cast.

 

[Phranquey]

Most of my good opportunities for lightning shots are during the day. I have not yet been successful in pressing the shutter quickly enough after I notice lightning to get a daytime image. I know it is a lot more difficult than doing the exposures at night. Are there any good tricks, or do I need to develop mad button-pressing skills to do this? Would using an off-camera release be useful?

Sorry, I don't think anyone's reaction times are that fast....

You have to have the shutter already open when the lightning strikes. Put the camera on Aperture priority, set your ISO at it's lowest setting, and drop your f/stop all the way down to give you the slowest shutter speed possible. Usually, this will still be in fractions of a second during the day, which is why a high-stop neutral density filter is also recommended.

 

[Phranquey]

You guys SUCK!! (and by that I mean that I am seething with jealousy bc the lightning shot is my "Eleanor"...the one that always eludes me) Awesome shots!

:mrgreen: Lots of patience (and memory cards). There have been times where I have chased for an entire evening, taken upwards of 1000 shots, and maybe get 1 or 2 really good keepers.

And... a good quality tripod is a must for daytime storm shots. A lot of times you are ahead of a storm while it's blowing in on you, and a weak tripod will shake like crazy, blurring your foreground while the shutter's open.

 

[bluetibby1]

Amazing shots. So jealous.
Blue

 

[MichiganFarts]

I gotta say, Buck, I was absolutely right about being able to learn something from ya!

Nice shots indeed...I remember as a kid, visiting my grandparents in Nebraska, and I've always wanted to go back there just to shoot the lightning storms we used to watch (they're just not the same with pine trees in the way)...now maybe I'll know how lol.

 

[Buckster]

Thank you kindly. No hard feelings here btw.

 

[MichiganFarts]

Good! 'Cause I didn't come to fight with people, I just wanted to get back into photography after 5 years of being married with a crappy P&S lol...

I don't want to cut off potential sources of wisdom, which is why I didn't tell Derrel my first impressions of him are "what a dick!"...

Wait...what just happened here? lol...

Anyway, I'll try to be more submissive, but I got the fight inside me ya know?! lol..

 

[benlonghair]

I don't 100% agree with the tight aperture. This was shot at 30sec, ISO 200 and f/5. Of course it was midnight and pouring rain, so that sucks up some light, i suppose.


7-24 lightning 2 by ben_long_hair, on Flickr

 

[Buckster]

I don't 100% agree with the tight aperture. This was shot at 30sec, ISO 200 and f/5. Of course it was midnight and pouring rain, so that sucks up some light, i suppose.

I suppose it just depends on the conditions, especially the available light and foreground elements.

I tend to use it for lightning because it helps lengthen my shutter time and helps with greater DOF, so that I feel better about getting the lighting and whatever foreground element I'm trying for to be sharp, but that's not always the best solution.