Lightning Pic

[woj68]

Mother Nature has been taking the summer off so far here in Western New York but she did put on a good show tonight.

 

[Gdad]

Very nice- I have been meaning to go out and shoot some lightning for a while now. No shortage of nasty storms here- just my attachment to my chair getting in the way so far...

 

[DVC Eric]

Very nice.

 

[crazydadguy]

Here is my best shot so far. The focus is off some, but dang, lightning is hard to catch...

 

[My2Girls66]

Thats a cool shot. We don't get many lightning storms here.

 

[Frantasmic]

What techniques are you using to get your lightning pictures? I'm new to photography and was using a technique I got from Popular Photography magazine, but my results have been less than spectacular.

I'd appreciate hearing other's approach to lightning shots.

 

[woj68]

What techniques are you using to get your lightning pictures? I'm new to photography and was using a technique I got from Popular Photography magazine, but my results have been less than spectacular.

I'd appreciate hearing other's approach to lightning shots.

I set my aperture to f11 or more for greater DOF. Try to set your focal point out in the distance to get achieve sharpness in the strike.

I set ISO to 125 so I can leave the shutter open longer without overexposing the scene.

Set your shutter speed to "bulb". This will keep the shutter open until you close it. Ideally it's best if you have a shutter release cable but you can also just hold down the shutter button for the length of the exposure. I don't have a shutter release cable yet so I just held down the button until I knew I had a strike or two in the frame. However, if you're not perfectly still while the shutter is open you risk having a blurry photograph.

I also like to shoot in RAW so I can adjust my exposure settings afterwards if needed.

Last but not least, I think it goes without saying, make sure to use a tripod.

Good luck!

 

[Frantasmic]

Set your shutter speed to "bulb". This will keep the shutter open until you close it.

Is the "bulb" shutter speed common to most DSLRs? It is similar to the technique I use except instead of manually controlling the shutter, this technique recommended a cardboard or other small box type of device painted black which caused the shutter to close. Once you got a lightning flash, stick this device to the shutter to get it to close.

Thanks. I'll look for the bulb type of setting. We have an older DSLR, the first Canon Rebel, so I don't know if they have a manual means of closing the shutter like that. I had just been using long exposure times.

 

[handicap18]

Is the "bulb" shutter speed common to most DSLRs? It is similar to the technique I use except instead of manually controlling the shutter, this technique recommended a cardboard or other small box type of device painted black which caused the shutter to close. Once you got a lightning flash, stick this device to the shutter to get it to close.

Thanks. I'll look for the bulb type of setting. We have an older DSLR, the first Canon Rebel, so I don't know if they have a manual means of closing the shutter like that. I had just been using long exposure times.

I haven't heard of any dSLR's that don't have BULB. You have to put your setting on Manual. It should be the next option after 30 seconds. You will need a remote shutter release, either wired or wireless. Holding your finger on the shutter button for 30+ seconds will almost definitely get you camera shake.