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...im not dying for a photo

gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
edited May 19, 2005 in Wildlife
Whats wrong with the weather ? Its winter for gods sake & we are still getting tropical summer storms.

This storm past over about 30 mins ago (they only last maybe 20 mins)....in between shots there were 2 that hit maybe a few hundred yards from me so i thought...hmmm ..take what you've got lad & see tomorrow.

I moved off the balcony & shot from inside after those last ones. I could feel the shock hitting my face.

These things were dropping out of the sky like rain drops !!! You should have heard the cracking noise....i actually had the hair on my neck stand up at one point.

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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Heres a 10mm for you ginger. Its a bit out of focus as the 10-22 aint that fast & it wouldnt auto focus in the dark. If you manual focus to infinity the shots (with all my lenses ive noticed) are a bit out so i have to guess it & back it off a tiny little bit & thus i missed the focus a tad in both shots.


    22494226-L.jpg
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    NirNir Registered Users Posts: 1,400 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    'gus, #1!!!

    (it might help if you hold the camera with rubber gloves :D )
    __________________

    Nir Alon

    images of my thoughts
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Nir wrote:
    'gus, #1!!!

    (it might help if you hold the camera with rubber gloves :D )
    :D I wear 3 pairs at once all day long (one set is 10 000 volts) & man are they nice to take off at the end of the day.

    Its rare that i move for lightning but this lot had me moving inside.

    Gus
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    MuskyDudeMuskyDude Registered Users Posts: 1,508 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    I love how you see the lightning reflection on the water in #1 Gus, that's a wicked shot! thumb.gif



    AJ
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    MuskyDude wrote:
    I love how you see the lightning reflection on the water in #1 Gus, that's a wicked shot! thumb.gif



    AJ
    Ta mate...still its the 2nd storm we have got since i got back from yosemite. Its not ment to be happening weather wise.
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    SkippySkippy Registered Users Posts: 12,075 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Cool Lightning Shot
    Humungus wrote:
    Whats wrong with the weather ? Its winter for gods sake & we are still getting tropical summer storms.

    This storm past over about 30 mins ago (they only last maybe 20 mins)....in between shots there were 2 that hit maybe a few hundred yards from me so i thought...hmmm ..take what you've got lad & see tomorrow.

    I moved off the balcony & shot from inside after those last ones. I could feel the shock hitting my face.

    These things were dropping out of the sky like rain drops !!! You should have heard the cracking noise....i actually had the hair on my neck stand up at one point.
    We're having crazy weather here to Gus, my fruit trees went back into blossom and have actually got fruit on them again, not many but yup I have apricots again......... I love Lightning shots, don't get to see much lightning down my way.......but your shots are really cool.......thanks for sharing.
    Skippy (Australia)
    .
    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
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    AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    bowdown.gif just awesome, 'gus!
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    jwearjwear Registered Users Posts: 8,006 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Humungus wrote:
    Ta mate...still its the 2nd storm we have got since i got back from yosemite. Its not ment to be happening weather wise.
    you saw that yosemite is closed and flooded so not just oz , the new camera does good with that sparking stuffeek7.gifthumb.gif
    Jeff W

    “PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE ‘JAZZ’ FOR THE EYES…”

    http://jwear.smugmug.com/
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Hey Gus,

    Fantastic shots. clap.gifclap.gifclap.gif Don't let a wee bit of lightning scare you off.:D
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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    dragon300zxdragon300zx Registered Users Posts: 2,575 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    After meeting you in person your stories have a differetn effect. They are alittle funnier even. Good shot but I have to agree with harry. Never let something scare you off from the shot. Whos knows the last shot you take could be the one to make you famous.
    Everyone Has A Photographic Memory. Some Just Do Not Have Film.
    www.zxstudios.com
    http://creativedragonstudios.smugmug.com
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    bfjrbfjr Registered Users Posts: 10,980 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    It's just a few zillion volts rolleyes1.gif

    supercharged set thumb.gifclap.gif
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    DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,951 moderator
    edited May 19, 2005
    wow

    if i'm not wrong, this is your first lightning set with the 20D? (or maybe I've been a bit absentee).
    Erik
    moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]


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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Humungus wrote:
    ....i actually had the hair on my neck stand up at one point.


    Uh, Gus...

    what hair?

    Nice shots. I love lightning. It scares me, but I love it.
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
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    wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    22495638-S.jpg

    Wicked shot, Gus. Amazing.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
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    ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Great shots, Gus, particularly the first one.

    I was thinking that none of my lenses focus in the "dark", but I don't know about the wide.

    I noticed that about infinity a long time ago. And I do what you do. It is never optimal. It is not something that I would want anyone scrutinizing, as in a challenge thread here, or something like that. In fact, most of them suck.

    What do the rest of you do?

    Andy, I am sure you buy lenses that focus in the dark, dark. Does the 1.8 50 canon do that? If it doesn't have sand in it, I mean.

    Gus, that first shot is, as Andy would say, IMO, mint. YOu are so lucky. Storms, lightening, and a tripod. But especially the lightening and evening and view, etc.

    I was thinking, can't you put your camera out "there" and make it work. The timer? I mean throw it out on the tripod, set the timer and go back to safety?

    Hair really does rise, doesn't it? I thought that was just a SC thing.

    ginger (thanks on the 10-22, good to see one that is not stellar with that lens........helps the lust factor):D
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
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    4labs4labs Registered Users Posts: 2,089 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Brave man I am deathly afraid of lightning or any electricity in general.. Very very cool shots Gus.. Now where are yoru Yosemite shots mate?
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    Mr. WonderfulMr. Wonderful Registered Users Posts: 41 Big grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Gus those are great shots! May I ask how you did that since I am a beginner photographer? I get lightning storms where I am alot but it moves so fast!
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    Steve CaviglianoSteve Cavigliano Super Moderators Posts: 3,599 moderator
    edited May 19, 2005
    Lov 'em mate thumb.gifthumb.gif


    Holy cow!! If you could feel the hairs on your neck standing up, that lightning was way tooo close....Laughing.gif :uhoh

    Super shots of a real hard subject clap.gif Glad you weren't harmed during the shooting. You know, I've heard that if your 20D get struck by lightning, you'll never be able to get the sensor clean again :lol :lol

    Thanks for posting this and yeah, we're having rain again too rolleyes1.gif Maybe it's the end of the world. Good thing you picked up that 20D....lol


    Steve
    SmugMug Support Hero
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    ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Lov 'em mate thumb.gifthumb.gif


    Holy cow!! If you could feel the hairs on your neck standing up, that lightning was way tooo close....Laughing.gif :uhoh

    Super shots of a real hard subject clap.gif Glad you weren't harmed during the shooting. You know, I've heard that if your 20D get struck by lightning, you'll never be able to get the sensor clean again :lol :lol

    Thanks for posting this and yeah, we're having rain again too rolleyes1.gif Maybe it's the end of the world. Good thing you picked up that 20D....lol


    Steve

    JUst pointing out that the challenge, which I never do anything well in anymore:cry , ok, got that out of the way.

    It is on weather!!!!!! weather report of today, whenever, as long as it was after noon Monday.
    Gus, you have the shot for it!thumb.gif

    gwave.gif (not "hi", it is "bye")
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
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    SeamusSeamus Registered Users Posts: 1,573 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    The first one is spectacular clap.gif, you should get this one printed and framed, classthumb.gif . As Ginger said, if this is taken in the timeframe for the competition, you have a winner.


    Now, post your shots from yosemite:poke .
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    ehughesehughes Registered Users Posts: 1,675 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Wow Gus, just incrediblethumb.gif ... How did you do it....

    Ed
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    DoctorIt wrote:
    wow

    if i'm not wrong, this is your first lightning set with the 20D? (or maybe I've been a bit absentee).
    Certainly is mate.....

    Here is todays headlines...(this is quite normal for summer but in winter headscratch.gifne_nau.gif

    Funny bit is that our storms are very localised....where my wife works (3 miles as the crow flies) they had ice 2 feet deep & i saw none what-so-ever. I watched a 'super cell' build from 3pm & could not believe it would develope in winter....as they really need 90+f to get big.

    They are extreamly violent & short lived.


    Icy deluge lashes unsuspecting city
    Paula Doneman, Chris Griffith and Mick Daly
    20may05


    HAILSTORMS ripped across Brisbane's western and northern suburbs last night, blocking roads, felling trees and bringing down powerlines.





    The sudden storms caught the city by surprise after the weather bureau's radar failed.

    More than 160 homes were damaged, 6400 were left without power, and some cars in peak-hour traffic were stranded in drifts of hailstones up to a metre deep.

    As more than 150 lightning strikes hit Brisbane, the city's airport was closed for an hour, stranding 14 passenger jets.

    The icy deluge created floods in inner-west suburbs, damaged the Fourex brewery at Milton and forced Toowong-based ABC TV to replace its 7pm news with a NSW bulletin after transmission equipment and offices were inundated.

    Brisbane's traffic arteries including the Inner City Bypass, Coronation Drive, Gympie and Sandgate roads were blocked. Some motorists at Milton tried to shovel hail off the road.

    The storm cut power to homes in Annerley, Coorparoo, East Brisbane, Norman Park, Holland Park West, Moorooka, Tarragindi, Chelmer, Graceville, Sunnybank and Sherwood. Power was restored to many just before 7pm.

    The radar failure meant a warning was not issued until almost half an hour after the first hail strike.





    There were no weather bureau warnings before the storms hit Darra about 5.30pm and Indooroopilly 15 minutes later.

    At 5.50pm, as drivers battled peak-hour traffic in the deluge, the bureau website showed heavy storms but no hail warnings. It was 5.58pm before any warning appeared.

    Bureau spokesman Bruce Gunn said radar equipment failed about 5pm and was not working until after 5.30pm. Warnings were issued as soon as forecasters were able to study the extent of the storms.

    "It peaked during that period when our equipment was down," he said.

    Mr Gunn said initial reports of storms did not indicate the extent of them. He said a hailstorm in late May was "very unseasonal".

    Motorcyclist Carl Davis, 31, of Camira, expected bruises today from the hail.

    "I left home and knew it was going to storm but I didn't know it was going to be this bad," he said. "I was stuck behind a truck trying to get shelter then I rode up underneath a bridge."

    Fire crews worked to clear thick hail from roads, including Countess St and Caxton St, where residents helped rescue cars stuck in the ice. Pedestrians around Suncorp Stadium found the pea-sized hail was in drifts thick enough for them to make snow figures.

    Shaun O'Connor of Milton used the storm to carve a footpath snow angel and fill his esky.

    "We thought we'd come and put the beer on ice. It's never tasted better," he said."
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    AngeloAngelo Super Moderators Posts: 8,937 moderator
    edited May 19, 2005
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    ehughes wrote:
    Wow Gus, just incrediblethumb.gif ... How did you do it....

    Ed
    This is all i can tell you Ed...it is a worry as i was well aware it could boom down into that tree right in the front of the shot. I worked in a high voltage test/destruction lab for a long time & we had a lightning simulator.

    Main problem is that the main bolt goes from the ground up (not down as most think) up to 70% of the time & there is always lower voltage/amperage 'leaders' (the little ones you can see) that shoot up to guide the big one up/down. Most people that live only get the little ones...not many that get the 'momma' live as the heat is just too much to live through.

    Thus dont think of your chances against 1 bolt but against maybe a dozen & with a bolt every few seconds then your odds really dive.

    Date Taken:2005-05-18 17:46:00Date Digitized:2005-05-18 17:46:00Make:CanonModel: Canon EOS 20D Size: 3520x2346 Bytes: 7169958 Aperture: f/16.0 ISO: 100 Focal Length: 10mm (guess: 8mm in 35mm) Exposure Time: 30s (30/1)Flash:Flash did not fire, compulsory flash modeExposure Program:Aperture priority
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    shay wrote:
    The first one is spectacular clap.gif, you should get this one printed and framed, classthumb.gif . As Ginger said, if this is taken in the timeframe for the competition, you have a winner.


    Now, post your shots from yosemite:poke .
    havnt done a challenge for donkeys ages so might give it a whirl. Tks mate
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Gus those are great shots! May I ask how you did that since I am a beginner photographer? I get lightning storms where I am alot but it moves so fast!
    Thanks...posted the camera settings in reply to Ed's question...have a read & thats about it.

    Thanks for your comment
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    After meeting you in person your stories have a differetn effect.
    rolleyes1.gif As my father always said...'never let the truth get in the way of a good story'

    At least now i have a camera to show andy a Yowie when i see one
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    4labs wrote:
    Brave man I am deathly afraid of lightning or any electricity in general.. Very very cool shots Gus.. Now where are yoru Yosemite shots mate?
    Tks labs...the yos shots are all processed but im just starting a Pro account & am going to use Niks loader as there are just too many to do normally...ive come to the dark side now.
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    Thanks everyone else for looking...the bolt on the right hits right on the water a few hundred yards away so i was worried that the balcony hand rail might get a 'leader' if it was to hit the tree in the foreground so i had to move back inside.

    This show only lasted a few mins before the downforce wind hit & then there is rain going in every direction horizontal & you cant keep it off the lens/camera.

    Gus
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2005
    This is a very bad crop of the main bolt....there is a small shopping centre right in that exact spot. This is at 10mm BTW so it aint too good at blowing a shot up.

    Thats a plane coming in to land on the left (the light streak)

    I just cant replicate the noise...absolutely deafening !


    22493585-M.jpg
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