Lightning?

goodwin1234

goodwin1234

Suspended / Banned
Messages
214
Name
Kieron
Edit My Images
Yes
We just had the craziest storm i've ever seen, and it got me thinking - How exactly would I go about capturing some lightning shots?

I'm guessing a tripod, slow shutter speed and a lot of luck?
 
Last edited:
From personal experience (and I havn't done a lot of it);

Tripod
Remote release
RAW
Manual focus (out on the horizon)
Fairly wide angle lens (to cover a fair amount of sky), say 28mm on a FF camera.
ISO 400 (depends on the ambient light)
Aperture F10
Shutter speed 10 seconds.

Just start shooting, click/click/click - don't wait till you see a lightening bolt, it will be too late.

It is very easy and you may not need a lot of luck - I was showing my sister how to do this and she got a strike on the first frame (i didn't - it took a few frames).

#1 Here is an example - pre dawn coastal sunrise shoot with storms around - we didn't see the sunrise as it started raining


Lighting (2) by dicktay2000, on Flickr

Just be careful and take wet weather protection.
 
Last edited:
Tripod, slow shutter speed and actually not as much luck as you'd think you might need. Last year I was doing a gig in the Czech Republic, we'd had flights cancelled so it was a long day and didn't arrive at the hotel until around 3 in the morning. A massive electrical storm hit just after we arrived and despite being very much not sober I couldn't resist trying to grab a shot from my hotelroom window. I just set it up to shoot 30 second exposures (as I didn't have a remote release to do any longer) and kept reeling off frames. With 30 seconds your chances of getting something in a fairly active storm are actually quite good!

This is what I ended up with, a fairly boring/generic composition but I was chuffed to get such a major bolt!


Lightning... by Paul Nichols, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Cannot really add any more to what has already been said :( it's a relatively simple process :thumbs: not that I've ever really had chance to put it into practice....storms always seem to be when I'm not able to shoot them :razz:
 
Lots of 15 sec exposures (and some luck!)

Heather


 
PMN said:
Tripod, slow shutter speed and actually not as much luck as you'd think you might need. Last year I was doing a gig in the Czech Republic, we'd had flights cancelled so it was a long day and didn't arrive at the hotel until around 3 in the morning. A massive electrical storm hit just after we arrived and despite being very much not sober I couldn't resist trying to grab a shot from my hotelroom window. I just set it up to shoot 30 second exposures (as I didn't have a remote release to do any longer) and kept reeling off frames. With 30 seconds your chances of getting something in a fairly active storm are actually quite good!

This is what I ended up with, a fairly boring/generic composition but I was chuffed to get such a major bolt!



Lightning... by Paul Nichols, on Flickr
Click to expand...


Excellent photo this nice :thumbs:
 
I read on here (I think) that if it's not that active a storm, you can tune a radio on LW to static and hear the pressue build up in the static, so you've got an audible count down as to when to release the frame.

In this digital age however, you might as well just keep shooting :)
 
Thanks for all the replies, some cracking shots too! Now I just need another storm :lol:

Did anybody else have a storm near them last night? It was incredible, at one point there was flashes of lightning at least every 5 seconds or so, never seen anything like it before!
 
Last edited:
We did. It was crazy went I was out to collect my eldest. I got home, set up the camera...nothing...

The law of sod..
 
damianmkv said:
We did. It was crazy went I was out to collect my eldest. I got home, set up the camera...nothing...

The law of sod..
Click to expand...


Typical eh?

I couldn't drag myself away from the window to go and get the camera :bonk:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top