ZAP! First attempt at capturing lightning!

[a_auger]

So we had this HUGE lightning storm tonight that lasted more than an hour. It was the first one since my arrival in Romania to have happened at night. I've always wanted to try getting a lightning storm photo, so tonight was a wonderful chance.

Here was my setup: Canon 7D with Sigma 17-70 at 17mm, 0.6 sec, f/2.8 and 500 iso on tripod by the windowsill. I don't have a remote shutter so I had to hold the shutter button without moving. Not great for camera shake, but then again I wasn't going for pro shots, just trying to see if it works... Camera was set to high-speed continuous (low speed wouldn't have mattered) and I held the shutter until the card was almost full. 1536 RAW pics were taken, about 32GB in about 20-25 minutes. Out of those, 9 had actual lightning and of those, 4 were usable.

These were taken from the window of my room. There was a pesky bug screen that rotated outwards that could not be removed, so it severely limited my angle of view. I was stuck with the tripod by the window with the camera in portrait orientation so the frame and the screen weren't in the shot.

I adjusted the colours a little to bring out the lightning and brought the WB down so the sky seemed more blue as opposed to the weird purple that came OOC.

1:

2:

3:

4:

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome, not bad for a first try! Some pictures had so much light in them that the sky was completely blown, despite the total darkness of the hour. Next time I'll go for a faster shutter speed. Some photos, especially the tighter crops seen a little noisy too, so a lower ISO next time would be in order too!

 

[Designer]

Dang! It looks like the lighting almost captured you!

Were you like; you know, wearing "protection"?

 

[hamlet]

I think it is great that you took the initiative to capture a moment that you thought was significant, a lot of people sometimes don't do that. Also did you set your focus to ∞? The images look a bit soft.

 

[a_auger]

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, focus was at infinity but the tripod was shaking a little, and I didn't have something other than my hand to hit the shutter an keep it going... Plus, at f/2.8, the trees were outside of the depth of field. Next time I'll see if I can get a better angle for a better composition.

 

[jeff456]

Hi. Nice shots. I love Taking shots of lightning. I have found lately that leaving my house and going somewhere to get some shots is a sure way to get the lightning to stop. Not sure yet how to fix that.

I have found for me that using an exposure of 10-15 seconds works best for me. It seems easier to leave my shutter open for a longer period in the hopes the lightning will occur during that time than to try to capture a lot of shots and hope the lightning occurred during my short exposure. I always end up adjusting my settings depending on how the background is looking and how bright and intense the lightning is. Sometimes the lightning is very bright and other times it is a ways off and takes more of an exposure.

I have also started using a remote shutter, initially to reduce camera shake. It also ends helping if the lightning shots are coming far between. I can move my aperture up high to make sure the background lights don't blow out and set my camera to bulb. Then I just hold the shutter until a strike happens and then I release the button. This can still mess you up if the exposure is very short or if it ends up being so long it blows out the rest of the scene.

EDIT- Forgot to mention you can get around the camera shake issue if you use your timer to release the shutter. You loose 2 seconds of shot time which is forever in lighting time, but if it makes your shot sharper it's probably worth it.

I have my camera set to reduce long exposure noise so I also loose an equivalent amount of cycling time to the length of my exposure. That is a sure time for the best lightning to strike! It always either that or the lightning hits just out of frame. I have plenty of shots where one side or the other of the frame is very bright and the lightning itself is just out of frame....

I set my aperture to around 8, sometimes a little less and sometimes more. If your lens has a sweet spot I would start there so you know your shots will be sharp. I think the F2.8 is part of why your shots aren't as sharp as you would like. Getting the aperture up will help that.

I also set my ISO to 100-200 since lightning is so bright it will expose almost no matter what. Your shots don't look like you have any lights in the scene other than the lightning itself. Where I am almost any shot is going to have houses along the shore or some other outside light source that I have to worry with the exposure for. That also helps me to focus on infinity. I focus on one of the farthest light points in the distance so that hopefully everything in the shot will be in focus.

I try to be careful about what is in the shot, too. I have taken a bunch only to get home and have some ugly sign or PVC pipe sticking out of the ground that I did not see in the dark. I try to get around that by cranking my ISO all the way up and either looking through live view or taking a long enough exposure to see what will be in the frame when I do capture a strike. Just have to remember to turn those setting back down. I have plenty of shots that are blown to bits due to forgetting and leaving my ISO high.

Another thing I always do is to try to be as safe as I can about being under structure and out of the open. I don't care to experience lightning any closer than through my lens.

Hope you don't mind if I share a few of my shots in your thread. I am always interested in new ways to try to capture lightning so if you learn anything new I would love to know about it!

Jeff

 

[hamlet]

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, focus was at infinity but the tripod was shaking a little, and I didn't have something other than my hand to hit the shutter an keep it going... Plus, at f/2.8, the trees were outside of the depth of field. Next time I'll see if I can get a better angle for a better composition.

At the distance you were shooting at 17mm, everything should have been in focus at f2.8. Distance between you and the subject changes how big your dof is, use this little website to see how big your dof would be: Online Depth of Field Calculator

 

[petrochemist]

I found shutting down the aperture worked well for the nighttime storm here on Saturday morning. Typically using 60s f11 iso 100.
Handheld was usually acceptable (my tripod wasn't handy) If there was no strike in that time the shot was pretty black, so it was like flash.
Must say my backgrounds weren't as clear as these, though I did have one that looked like daytime (with the lightning so burnt out t was invisible in a patch of white sky)

 

[a_auger]

Thanks for the tips! As for ambient lighting, it certainly wasn't dark. The parking lot that was cropped out for most pictures was well lit, so long exposures over 1 second were not an option this time. For the camera shake, I really need an intervalometer or something that keeps "pressing" on the shutter for me. Basically, if I follow your tips I essentially expose for daylight except for the long exposure time.

Jeff: Awesome shots! Love 3,4,and 5.

 

[Designer]

For the camera shake, I really need an intervalometer or something that keeps "pressing" on the shutter for me.

If you're going to buy something, just get a cable release. They're very affordable, lightweight, and pack easily.

 

[jeff456]

A_auger, I have this intervalometer and it has never failed to work. I was unsure about buying it but for the price I took the chance. It has worked fine any time I have used it. It even works for the remote trigger without the battery. I normally keep my battery installed upside down to keep it fresh for if I need it. I played around a little with time lapse but never did much with it. This has a push button to trigger the camera shutter or you can set the camera to bulb and slide the trigger up to lock the shutter open until you slide it back to the off position. I bought mine on the recommendation of someone else on another forum and I have not been disappointed.

I do not know the seller of this item nor am I endorsing them. This was just the only link I found when I searched this particular brand that I have.

Jeff


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