How to catch lightning on, uh, film?

[Hatem Eldoronki]

I am assuming that if I sit down with my finger on the shutter button 1/2 way, I'll still miss the moment!
So what should I set the camera to? (I'll be taking the shot at nighttime).

[ifurlong]

they make a device that goes on the flash mount that automaticly triggers the shutter when it detects lightning, look through the ads in Outdoor Photographer

[Littlebike]

another option I would consider is setting your aperature to 22 or higher and do an extended exposure of 20-30 seconds and hope for the best.

At night with your F-stop clamped down like that virtually nothing is going to show up in you lense unless lit with a bolt of lightning as bright as the sun.

Just an idea.

[tanneuby]

You can also set it to "bulb" and hold you finger on the button until you see the lightning then let go closing the shutter. A remote usually works best for that I guess. At least thats what I have heard.

[barnold999]

Use the search button and search for LIGHTNING there are quite a few threads on this.

[EoSD30fReAk]

I've once put my D30 on a tripod and used the Bulb function with a remote. It worked fine and i had a great lightning picture! but you have to be shure that it's dark enough.

[lightandlife]

Can you just keep taking hundreds of pictures during the lightning period? A few will probably give you good shots.
There is a lag between the time one recognizes a lightening and the time actually the shutter is pushed.
Also, each lightning show lasts only a few seconds.

Film would be too expensive. But with digital storage, why take only one shot? One probably needs a fast recording medium. Also, 10D can take so many shots per second.

[hmhm]

Here's a review of a gadget that might help:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lightning.shtml
-harry

[Ikinaa]

Littlebike wrote:
another option I would consider is setting your aperature to 22 or higher and do an extended exposure of 20-30 seconds and hope for the best.

At night with your F-stop clamped down like that virtually nothing is going to show up in you lense unless lit with a bolt of lightning as bright as the sun.

Just an idea.

the higher the f/, the less light comes in.
Even if lightning can sometimes be blinding, I guess f/22 won't show much if the lightning isn't within a few 100 meters.
The farther the lightning away, the lower the f/-number.
On my G3, I got one the best result with something like f/3-5 while the lightnings were about 1 km away.
Best is if the night is dark, so you can leave the shutter open a lot longer.
Check http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10330#81822 for some of my examples...

[bigbelly]

hi,

i had the chance of a nice night with loads of lightning.

i placed the camera (10d, sigma 24mm) on the window-sill, put focus to infinity, f16, ISO400.

i used bulb.

so i just stood there and pressed the button and kept my finger on it. waited until there was a lightning and then released the button again.

i got quite a few nice pics that night.
you can find one example at:

www.egocat.com/lightning/lightning.htm

[penguinit]

I watched a lightning storm and either randomly pressed the shutter, or waited until I saw a flash and then took a shot, since a few of the strikes happened in short succession. On this occasion I got lucky and caught the second (or third) strike using this technique.

At the end of the day, If you are using digital then fire away - it's worth it. The shot below shows the result - I think it would have been much better if it
a) wasn't chucking it down with rain
b) wasn't taken through a car windscreen
c) wasn't hand held (1/90 sec, f6.7)
d) didn't have a 3 year old child running around in the back of the car!

-Steve

500Kb lightning strike picture here (http://www.penguinit.co.uk/images/lightning.jpg)

[openspace]

Bulb setting with a remote switch is the way to go. I recommend an ISO of 100 or 200 to eliminate grain. Using your remote switch, open the shutter and let the camera sit until you capture 1 or more strikes. The more strikes you capture, the more detail you will expose on the landscape. Close the shutter, evaluate the image and repeat.

You'd be surprised how much detail you can pull out of a landscape with a 20 second exposure set at ISO 100 and f/16-22 when you add a bright flash of lightning to the mix.

Just play it safe. The image of a lifetime is worthless if you die. Remember, cloud to ground lightning can travel up to 20 miles to it's target and metal tripods and lightning don't mix. Evaluate the severity of the storm, know which direction it is traveling and use good judgement.

[mattchase]

I'm a little late to this thread, but here is a link to a page with usefull info on shooting lightning including samples.

http://www.matthewchase.com/lightning/howto/index.html