My first lightning capture!

Red BullRed Bull Registered Users Posts: 719 Major grins
edited February 23, 2009 in Other Cool Shots
Long time since I've logged on here! Anyway I was on vacation the other week and one of the stops was in Des Moines, Iowa. As I was sitting on my computer I notice a flash outside the hotel window. It's lighting! I quickly grab my camera (luckily I brought my good one along with my little P&S) and shut off all the lights. This was the best shot I got. Taken with 20D, about a 20 sec exposure with EF 17-40 L

357369752_baMYG-L.jpg
-Steven

http://redbull.smugmug.com

"Money can't buy happiness...But it can buy expensive posessions that make other people envious, and that feels just as good.":D

Canon 20D, Canon 50 1.8 II, Canon 70-200 f/4L, Canon 17-40 f/4 L, Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro, Canon 430ex.

Comments

  • InsuredDisasterInsuredDisaster Registered Users Posts: 1,132 Major grins
    edited August 23, 2008
    Pretty good I think. Nice to include a bit of the city for size comparison. Good!
    My blog
  • SkippySkippy Registered Users Posts: 12,075 Major grins
    edited August 24, 2008
    Red Bull wrote:
    Long time since I've logged on here! Anyway I was on vacation the other week and one of the stops was in Des Moines, Iowa. As I was sitting on my computer I notice a flash outside the hotel window. It's lighting! I quickly grab my camera (luckily I brought my good one along with my little P&S) and shut off all the lights. This was the best shot I got. Taken with 20D, about a 20 sec exposure with EF 17-40 L

    Wow that's an excellent capture Red Bull clap.gif
    I like that you've got the buildings in the shot too.

    That's quite a long branched bolt of lightning you've captured there.
    Well Done thumb.gif .... Skippy :D
    .
    .
    Skippy (Australia) - Moderator of "HOLY MACRO" and "OTHER COOL SHOTS"

    ALBUM http://ozzieskip.smugmug.com/

    :skippy Everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people just abuse the privilege :dgrin
  • pyrypyry Registered Users Posts: 1,733 Major grins
    edited August 24, 2008
    That is good shot! Must have been a huuge bolt, it cries for a wider angle!

    Shooting lightning is always going to involve luck, you can't really compose them with anything else :D

    Good job!
    Creativity's hard.

    http://pyryekholm.kuvat.fi/
  • Red BullRed Bull Registered Users Posts: 719 Major grins
    edited August 25, 2008
    Thanks for the positive comments! I really wish I had a wider lens. Using a 10-22 would have been incredible considering the size of this lightning bolt. I had never seen lightning like this before so I was pretty excited. wings.gif
    -Steven

    http://redbull.smugmug.com

    "Money can't buy happiness...But it can buy expensive posessions that make other people envious, and that feels just as good.":D

    Canon 20D, Canon 50 1.8 II, Canon 70-200 f/4L, Canon 17-40 f/4 L, Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro, Canon 430ex.
  • DaddyODaddyO Registered Users Posts: 4,466 Major grins
    edited August 26, 2008
    pyry wrote:
    That is good shot! Must have been a huuge bolt, it cries for a wider angle!

    Shooting lightning is always going to involve luck, you can't really compose them with anything else :D

    Good job!
    15524779-Ti.gif Nice job getting this one. We haven't had much lighting here
    this year. Which is good cause we haven't had rain in forever and
    our state would be on fire once again. :D As is.....
    We had perfect conditions for firestorm lastnight that destroyed much.
    If interested... KTVB NEWS. I decided not to go out there to get
    any photos.
    Michael
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited August 26, 2008
    Great job! thumb.gif It's a rush shooting lightning, eh? Nice comp.

    -joel
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
  • christinamaechristinamae Registered Users Posts: 484 Major grins
    edited August 27, 2008
    Very nice capture! Congrats! It's so exciting when you get your first lightning bolt.
  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited August 27, 2008
    clap.gif Super it feels like i am floating on it
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

    My Gallery
  • jeffmeyersjeffmeyers Registered Users Posts: 1,535 Major grins
    edited August 27, 2008
    Great for the first one!
    More Photography . . . Less Photoshop [. . . except when I do it]
    Jeff Meyers
  • cmorganphotographycmorganphotography Registered Users Posts: 980 Major grins
    edited February 23, 2009
    Near the court house [one of them]?? That's a clean shot!
    http://cmorganphotography.smugmug.com/
    *
    http://member.onemodelplace.com/member.cfm?P_ID=214042
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