Lightning pictures anyone?

[KarenAylwood]

Now that we're in the full swing of summer I'm sure a bunch of you are trying to get out there to capture some lightning! I've never done it successfully before, but I actually got two shots this past Friday. We were driving though, so I tried to lower my exposure time so I did have my aperture too wide and ISO probably too high (f/4.0 and ISO 200).

I didn't use photoshop for the first one at all, and the second one I photoshopped out some orange streaks from passing lights on the side of the road. No level adjustments or anything- clone stamp only. I should have spent longer on it but was too impatient late last night.

First exposure is 20 seconds, second is 13 seconds. We were driving so this was literally me trying to hold my camera still while pointing out the window!

Anyone else??

 

[gruZ]

Got this one last week as a very strong storm flew past. I took about 10 shots, and had good results in about 4 of them. This is the best of the lot. If I remember correctly is was a 30 second exposure on a tripod, F9.0, ISO 100.

 

[annnewjerz]

Very cool! I'll have to try to catch lightning next time we have a storm pass through........

.........from the safety and comfort of someone indoors with all the windows sealed up tight.

 

[crazydadguy]

This is from the bayou near my house during a "popcorn" thunderstorm. It is a good area for these types of shots because it is huge, wide open, and flat.

 

[Michele]

I got this one on a trip to Las Vegas. I was standing on the back porch of my cousin's house.

Took it with my p&S on auto
1/100 f3.4 ISO 50

 

[zackiedawg]

We get more lightning than anyone else (Florida - lightning capital of the U.S.!). Problem for me is that I have NO expansive vistas where I can capture it near home. We are flat as a board, and densely foliaged...so the longest view to the horizon I have is about 30 feet without a tree being in the way. It makes for lush, beautiful, private tropical surroundings, but it stinks for capturing landscape shots.

I have so far really only ever captured one lightning strike from my backyard...standing under an awning during a heavy rain, I captured this bolt dropping down about 100 feet past my backyard wall:

Scared the *bleep* out of me - one of those instant-thunder strikes that doesn't even give your brain time to register that it just saw lightning before the sound rips your spine in half. Needless to say, it was the last such attempt at lightning photos that evening, as I was standing outside, barefoot, in 2 inches of water, holding a metal camera on a metal tripod, in a severe electrical storm.

I wasn't using long shutters to capture the lightning...mostly because I don't have enough open space to shoot a wide landscape and catch the lightning where it falls, and because it was still light outside (dusk). In this case, it was one of those Florida storms that drops lightning every 2-3 seconds...so I was out back aiming at the narrow opening between trees in my yard, hoping to catch one as it hit the gap. Shutter speeds were generally between 1/5 and 1/2 second. I got this one at 1/5.

I would love to have a nice, wide vista that I could set up a tripod and take some nice long shutters to the horizon to capture some of these amazing Florida storms. Someday, I may jump in my car during one, and head down to the beach or out to the Everglades to see if I can get a storm as it approaches or recedes...but I'm too cautious to stand out in the open and shoot a storm that's already arrived!

 

[RBennett]

So here's my question: is it dangerous to have your camera on a tripod with a long exposure and me holding an umbrella over it??

I wonder if I were to put a rubber tip on the top of the umbrella...