Kaboom! Lightning his Houston

customminds · July 23, 2009

Thunderstorm in Houston last night

I always get weird looks when I run to the balcony with the tripod and camera. Tonight their was the first lightning storm… or I should say… first lightning since we moved in. I took about 20 timed shots altogether and only 4 or so were workable. This was the best one of the bunch.

http://www.customminds.com/cityscape/2009-07-22/
URL = super large version where you can zoom in and pan around of the following image.
if you can zoom in on the link, you can see the lightning behind the building under construction. kinda cool.

jamesl · July 23, 2009

Howdy Neighbor! Awesome shot! I'm jealous that you have such a wonderful view out your window. Here in Dallas, I have to drive about 1/2 hour to get downtown for anything like that.

I'm definately a sucker for storms and lightning!

http://www.langfordphotography.com/gallery/290976_SAtSg
http://www.langfordphotography.com/Storm%20Chasing

I can't wait to see more!

James

richtersl · July 23, 2009

Excellent shot!!!

thapamd · July 23, 2009

Fantastic! Right place at the right time. Wow!

Nikolai · July 23, 2009

Great capture!

TJDIV · July 23, 2009

Wow. So, silly question as I've never shot lightning...do you just sit and click when it hits / strikes?

Awesome picture.

kdog · July 23, 2009

Wow. :wow

I shoot a lot of lightning, but never got anything as nice as this. The comp here make this one of the best lightning shots I've ever seen. Awesome job.

thumb

Oh, and welcome to Dgrin.

-joel

coscorrosa · July 23, 2009

Great capture, and like Joel mentioned, having the cityscape in the background just elevates the shot. Man I wish we had lightening like that up here in Seattle

Photog4Christ · July 23, 2009

CRASH! BOOM!

Are you sure that it's behind the building?! (yes, I know it is, but it looks like it hit it!)

dseidman · July 24, 2009

Excellent capture! I'm really liking the new view that you've got.
I took a look at your link and appreciate this even more now that I can see all the little details.

customminds · July 24, 2009

James - Holy smoke, you really are a sucker for lightning. You have some great photos on your site. I unfortunately a lightning amateur with a good view. Keep up the great work and thank you for the positive feedback!!

richters - thank you very much!

thapamd - thank you too. Yes, I majorly lucked out.

nikolali - thanks nikolai!

tjdiv - thanks tj! each lightning photo should be somewhat like a fireworks photo. mount the camera on a tripod and try not to move it while taking the long shutter delayed picture. here are the settings i used for this one.
f16
iso L (50)
shutter 30 seconds
auto WB
Try it out a few times next storm and see what you get. I am sure you will be surprised with the results!

kdog - Thanks Joel! I really appreciate your compliments. Maybe I will make a hobby out of taking lightning photos..

cosco - Thanks! Actually the misses and I were thinking of moving to either seattle or vancouver over the next few years. Which one do you prefer?

photog4 - haha... Thanks! I think it went behind it somewhere. I don't know if anyone clicked on the large link. but you can zoom in and look through the building that looks like it is being hit. http://www.customminds.com/cityscape/2009-07-22/

dseidman - Thank you! I think maybe 1/3 of the people look at the link, but it is okay. Most people are happy with the zoomed out view, but I like the details as you do. :-)