- Post your Lightning Photos -

aero-nut · August 3, 2005

We had a really impressive thunderstorm in the desert here recently... At one point it averaged 2-3 strikes per second. Luckily the storm was about 50 miles away when I took these pics. Most of these were 1-2 min exposures at an ISO of 400 or 800 to capture multiple quick flashes. Because of that you can see some artifacts of the noise reduction I had to put them through...

Thought I would post some anyway...

Anyone have some lightning pics they'd like to share?

gus · August 4, 2005

Just one...i only worked out how to do it at the end of the storm season (oct-march) but this one rolled through in May which is very very odd.

ian408 · August 4, 2005

I have nothing to offer but nice things to say. That first one is
pretty cool with the stars and lightning.

Gus, I think your balcony qualifies as "the spot" to shoot from

Stan · August 4, 2005

Humungus wrote:

Just one...i only worked out how to do it at the end of the storm season (oct-march) but this one rolled through in May which is very very odd.

Very impressive Gus!

Two from June in the UK

Cheers
Stan

gluwater · August 4, 2005

I also have no entries but must say that these are very cool indeed.

Phil U. · August 4, 2005

I don't have any, but I'll direct you to JamesL's gallery. Some of the most impressive I've seen. He just signed up here recently. C'mon James, hope you become an active member here at dGrin!

Here's his lightning gallery: http://home.comcast.net/~langfords/lightning/index.html

JamesJWeg · August 4, 2005

Humungus wrote:

Just one...i only worked out how to do it at the end of the storm season (oct-march) but this one rolled through in May which is very very odd.

Would you mind sharing a little about how you did it, I havn't tried yet, but I am guessing shot around the 30 sec mark?

James.

fishlips · August 4, 2005

i had posted these a couple of weeks ago when i first joined dgrin, but this seems like an appropriate thread for a repost. these were taken at the beach earlier this summer. unfortunately i didn't get down to the beach until the "show" was coming to an end. i took these with my 18-55 at about 18, to get as much of the sky and lightning as possible. now after cropping i wish i hadn't gone that wide.

phil

hichuz · August 4, 2005

Here's a lightning photo that I took a few years ago... after the fact. We were living on the Florida west coast at the time... considered the lightning capitol of the USA. The strike came down a pine tree, blew the corner of the driveway apart, followed the rebar under the drive to the house, then blew the electrical meter off the house. Took out all the TV's and other appliances, computer HD included. I was in the house at the time, could feel the electricity in the air, smell the ozone. The point is... if you're going to shoot lightning pics, be careful and give lightning the respect it deserves. This was shot with my first low-quality digital... a Sony Mavica

gus · August 4, 2005

JamesJWeg wrote:

Would you mind sharing a little about how you did it, I havn't tried yet, but I am guessing shot around the 30 sec mark?

James.

No worries james...thanks everyone for your compliments.We have seen up to 189 strikes per minuite over the city. Plenty of time to practise. Locals are very cautious about being out in it.

Keep ISO as low as possible...this is about long exposure not fast shutter speed. The lower the ISO the clearer the shot.

Use an long exposure to catch multiple strikes (30 sec is a good time for me).

Use small apature to keep foreground & the distance in focus & this will help slow the shutter speed.

Use the widest lens youve got to get as much in as possible.

Date Taken:2005-05-18 17:46:00Date Digitized:2005-05-18 17:46:00Make:CanonModel: Canon EOS 20D Size: 4048x2698 Bytes: 7472777 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 priorityExposure Bias:0ColorSpace:sRGB

gus · August 4, 2005

hichuz wrote:

Here's a lightning photo that I took a few years ago... after the fact. We were living on the Florida west coast at the time... considered the lightning capitol of the USA. The strike came down a pine tree, blew the corner of the driveway apart, followed the rebar under the drive to the house, then blew the electrical meter off the house. Took out all the TV's and other appliances, computer HD included. I was in the house at the time, could feel the electricity in the air, smell the ozone. The point is... if you're going to shoot lightning pics, be careful and give lightning the respect it deserves. This was shot with my first low-quality digital... a Sony Mavica

Great hichuz !! Did you dig for your fulgurite ???

Gus

gluwater · August 4, 2005

Thanks for the info on your shot Gus and also for the informative link, it was a very interesting read.

Nick

ian408 · August 4, 2005

Now is prolly not the time to tell you about a fascinating book called "Shattered Air" :uhoh

It's about a lightning strike on the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Caught
a few people on top. Some lucky. Some not so lucky. Circumstance really paid off for
those who were lucky.

Many of the characters in this true story are from SF Bay Area. Specifically the city I
live in...

Ian

aero-nut · August 5, 2005

Wow! Great posts folks! Gus, I will always remember that picture. Great capture. Phil, great gallery link. Hichuz, glad to hear nobody was hurt...

wally5656 · August 5, 2005

Here's one

aero-nut wrote:

Wow! Great posts folks! Gus, I will always remember that picture. Great capture. Phil, great gallery link. Hichuz, glad to hear nobody was hurt...

hichuz · August 5, 2005

never heard of it. Thanks for the info. As they say... "you learn something new everyday!"

Humungus wrote:

Great hichuz !! Did you dig for your fulgurite ???

Gus

gus · August 5, 2005

hichuz wrote:

never heard of it. Thanks for the info. As they say... "you learn something new everyday!"

I work around a lot of high voltage wires & when one hits the ground & stays live (which they will do) you can dig one up...& thats just 11KV (actually 6.6KV to ground i think

) & it turns the soil to glass where it sits buzzing away.

I have a friend that has a fulgurite where lightning hit the beach & its a glass cylinder & you can see small shells in it.

ajgauthier · August 5, 2005

Monsoon Lightning Exhibit
If you are anywhere near central Arizona:

http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/wa/MainStoryDetails?ArticleID=11449

Adrienne (who is hoping to get some nice monsoon lightning shots in the coming weeks!)

Dani · August 5, 2005

heres one of mine

lots more here
http://public.fotki.com/adhaney/photos_2004/nature_and_animal_life/lightning/

Stan · August 5, 2005

Dani wrote:

heres one of mine

lots more here
http://public.fotki.com/adhaney/photos_2004/nature_and_animal_life/lightning/

I had a look at the shot on your site, it says sony Cybershot at 15mm 30 sec.

WOW that is awesome, you must have been with in a couple of hundred yards of the strike?

I take it you were in a Faraday Box.

Cheers
Stan

Dani · August 5, 2005

Stan wrote:

I had a look at the shot on your site, it says sony Cybershot at 15mm 30 sec.

WOW that is awesome, you must have been with in a couple of hundred yards of the strike?

I take it you were in a Faraday Box.

Cheers
Stan

thanks stan!

nope my dumb ass was standing down at teh street in my pj's across from where it hit with the camera on a tripod...

lol

Stan · August 5, 2005

I would have loved to see the shot of you jump when it hit

Cheers
Stan

ChrisJ · August 5, 2005

Dani wrote:

heres one of mine

Wow, that's incredible!

I miss lightning... not much here in LA. Even less than in Seattle, I think.

gus · August 5, 2005

ian408 wrote:

Gus, I think your balcony qualifies as "the spot" to shoot from

Thanks mate but i have rented the unit out & moved to another...see that tiny sign right down the front ? That is a for sale sign...10 storys straight up & wish as i may to get one...its $4 million US for the top floor unit :cry

Gus

wally5656 · August 5, 2005

Humungus wrote:

Thanks mate but i have rented the unit out & moved to another...see that tiny sign right down the front ? That is a for sale sign...10 storys straight up & wish as i may to get one...its $4 million US for the top floor unit :cry

Gus

Here is another one from the same storm.

gus · August 5, 2005

wally5656 wrote:

Here is another one from the same storm.

Dont tell me i have a fellow brisvegasite in here ? Where is that shot from wally ...carrara maybe ?

Gus

wally5656 · August 5, 2005

Humungus wrote:

Dont tell me i have a fellow brisvegasite in here ? Where is that shot from wally ...carrara maybe ?

Gus

Sorry Humungus.......my reply went in the wrong place. I am from the same state as Dani in the US. Oklahoma. That was from the airport which happens to practically be in my back yard.

gus · August 6, 2005

Here is a fellow 0zzies lightning shots...Nick Djordjevic

Have a butchers at his work. Some good gear in there.

Gus

Phil U. · August 6, 2005

Dani wrote:

thanks stan!

nope my dumb ass was standing down at teh street in my pj's across from where it hit with the camera on a tripod...

lol

So while "Roadkill" still remains appropriate, perhaps "Sparky" might also apply.

Phil U. · August 6, 2005

Humungus wrote:

Here is a fellow 0zzies lightning shots...Nick Djordjevic

Have a butchers at his work. Some good gear in there.

Gus

He does have some great stuff!

aero-nut · August 7, 2005

Dani wrote:

heres one of mine

lots more here
http://public.fotki.com/adhaney/photos_2004/nature_and_animal_life/lightning/

Whoah! How in the world did you know where to point the camera? That's a close one. Thanks for posting.

- Post your Lightning Photos -

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