I am so Effin mad!

[johnz]

I am sorry already for this rant.

But i am so pissed off! 2 hours ago, i was sitting at home, and the sky started to rumble, definite lighting storm aheading my way. Looked out side, saw some great flashes. Started to pack my gear right away, and in five minutes i was in my car driving to a better spot. The lightning storm was right on top of me for a while, and saw a few amazing lightnings while driving.

Well after 1.5 hours of driving and standing on piers looking always in the wrong direction i am back at home with 0 lightning shots. 0000000000!

I am so mad at myself that i was able to mess this opportunity up. Next chance? Maybe next year..

One of those feelings that makes you wanna sell your gear and just enjoy the storm from your couch next time.

Effin mad.:oops:

[Mark_Cohran]

At least you get lightning storms. Here is Portland, Oregon, we rarely get them. Usually they're much father to the east and south of us.

[mikekelley]

You live in Finland, no whining, I'm stuck in a cubicle in suburban hell :lol:

[Todd Lambert]

LOL - sorry man...

Lightning is tough to catch. I've tried several times, often with a similar experience as yours. My only saving grace is that we get them just about every afternoon here - usually 3pm - boom... thunderstorm. Lasts for an hour or so. You can almost set your watch by it in the summers.

This lighting is often easier to shoot too, since it's not just the big singular bolts, but more of the "heat" lightning - which goes horizontally and sometimes triggers hundreds of times inside of a few minutes.

Anways, keep at it... it's always worth trying.

[focus.pocus]

wow... where I live in the states in an everyday thing in the summer to get thunder storms. I am in Switzerland for the time being and we got one the other night which I am told is rare. I personally can live without them having 2 tornados in my time.

[focus.pocus]

ooopppps ... sorry survived 2 tornados in my life.

[katodog]

That's why the guy who invented the phrase "Doo-Doo Happens" (you know what I mean) is a millionaire. At least you tried. If you hadn't put the effort in, you might have missed something spectacular. At least you tried, which means you could have had the chance to catch a million-dollar photo.


It's better to have photographed and lost, than not to have photographed at all.

[Jaymz]

I wish we had more lightning storms here. So I could fine tune the details on my lightning trigger I built. Yea yea yea.. lazy way to take lightning shots. :)

[Gibbo]

I suppose it's not all handed to you on a plate. Especially lightening storms. You could be stuck outside for hours in the rain trying to get a decent shot.

I saw on television a guy that (under camouflage) waited in the mountains, outside a small hut in south America in all weathers somewhere trying to catch a glimpse of a rare leopard with his camera. He waited 3 months and had nothing. He persevered and finally... it crept into his frame.

You just gotta' keep trying, and it will pay off

[katodog]

Next time hold a golf club up in the air, you're bound to get something.

[john-in-japan]

I know your post is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Nothing a bottle of Champagne won't fix while drying out your gear, and you have a great story to tell as well. Good luck.
John

[Lazuka]

Next time hold a golf club up in the air, you're bound to get something.

amen to that

[johnz]

Thanks for the great advice :)

Now, one day later i am happy that i tried - and will try again next time. Like next summer..... Damned.

Thanks for the golf club idea, that would make a fantastic shot, but whos going to take the shot while i am getting fried?

"
It's better to have photographed and lost, than not to have photographed at all." - Katodog
That's something i have to keep in mind in the future :) Although i don't know if it really makes any sense :)

[johnz]

You live in Finland, no whining, I'm stuck in a cubicle in suburban hell :lol:

If you think that there is a lot of interesting stuff to shoot here, you should come by sometime and see for yourself - There isn't :)

Just lots of forests and small towns, and maybe like 1 thunder storm / year. Boring...

[johnz]

wow... where I live in the states in an everyday thing in the summer to get thunder storms. I am in Switzerland for the time being and we got one the other night which I am told is rare. I personally can live without them having 2 tornados in my time.

Tornados are beautiful, but as we all know.. deadly and very much unwanted. However.. would be great to shoot one oneday :)

We get only few thunderstorms a year here, so it's a rare possibility to shoot one when it happens, that's why i got a little frustrated when i failed getting a shot. It's not nice to miss a shot and think, "well, i might get a chance to try again next year, maybe"

But that's life.

[Picture North Carolina]

Live in North Carolina. They're a daily event. You can almost set your watch by them. You can also enjoy your car getting pelted / dented to death, your roof shingles being beaten off, your garden vegetables having the leaves sliced off them, your limbs, and even trees, falling, often causing damage, losing your cable, your telephone, and your electricity services, and on and on.

Don't take me wrong, being originally from L.A, where they get few I love thunderstorms. However, when they're a seasonal regular, almost daily event, they're often not all they're cut out to be.

[katodog]

Thanks for the golf club idea, that would make a fantastic shot, but whos going to take the shot while i am getting fried?


Hey, come on. I'm not supposed to think of everything, am I?? But, my first thought would be, that's why God made tripods and wireless shutters. You hold the wireless shutter, and when the lightning nails you, you convulse, and your hand clenches, which trips the shutter.

[johnz]

I know your post is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Nothing a bottle of Champagne won't fix while drying out your gear, and you have a great story to tell as well. Good luck.
John

Few beers did help :)

[johnz]

Live in North Carolina. They're a daily event. You can almost set your watch by them. You can also enjoy your car getting pelted / dented to death, your roof shingles being beaten off, your garden vegetables having the leaves sliced off them, your limbs, and even trees, falling, often causing damage, losing your cable, your telephone, and your electricity services, and on and on.

Don't take me wrong, being originally from L.A, where they get few I love thunderstorms. However, when they're a seasonal regular, almost daily event, they're often not all they're cut out to be.

I hear you, that kind of storms regulary would definitely suck alot. Even the yesterdays storm caused a lot of problems here, but i wasn't thinking about that - i was trying to get a shot :) You can't change the weather, but in best case you can get nice shots :)