How to photograph lightning in daylight?

[RickFL]

Lightning season is here in Tampa. So yesterday I went to try lightning photography for the first time. It didn't work out. Skies were overexposed even at 1/2 second, iso 100 and f22. Do I absolutely need a ND filter to shoot in the daylight? If so, how many stops should I buy?

I didn't try my 70-200 which has a smaller minimum aperture than my kit lens. I figured anything smaller than f22 could degrade image quality pretty bad. True?

Thanks for your advice!

[et078]

Unless it's totally cloudy and dark, you will, most likely, need an ND filter. I guess, depending on how bright it is, you could go anywhere from 2 to 9-stop ND filters, also depending how long you want the shutter open. I think a 9-stop filter ("welder's mask") would work well if you want very long exposures (i.e. 30 or more seconds). You can check out B&W's 8-stop, or Hoya's 9-stop ND filters. Both are pretty good, and I think you will achieve the results by using one or the other. Good luck!

[MNUplander]

When longer exposures aren't an option, a lightning trigger will work well. I would guess an ND filter would work as well given that the intensity of the lightning strikes should be bright enough to stand out provided your shutter speed isn't TOO long.

[RickFL]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. It's clear I will have to invest in something... Can anyone recommend a good lightning trigger? I'm not sure I will buy one, but I would like to see some reviews. I think the ND filter would be a little more versatile for other uses (waterfalls, etc).

[1Tanker]

Originally Posted by RickFL

Thanks for the suggestions guys. It's clear I will have to invest in something... Can anyone recommend a good lightning trigger? I'm not sure I will buy one, but I would like to see some reviews. I think the ND filter would be a little more versatile for other uses (waterfalls, etc).

Yeah.. a 9/10 stop ND are just plain cool. Great effects can be created with them. I use my 9 stop all the time, and rarely use my 3/2/1 stoppers.

[Geonerd]

Yes, an umpteen stop ND filter will extend shutter times to allow non-stop open-shutter coverage of the sky. The same filter will also attenuate the lightning to a tremendous degree. You'll wind up with a rather thin, wimpy, main channel; and the branching leaders will likely be completely invisible.

You'll get much better results if you wait 'till twilight.

Basic exposure for lightning is:
ISO at lowest. This is almost always the best option.

Set aperture to match lightning's inherent brightness. Start at f/6.7, and open up for more distant or faint strikes. If the neighbor's house is on fire, try f/32.

Adjust shutter speed to properly expose everything else. (Foreground, clouds, sky, city, etc.)


You'll want a decent tripod and a remote/cable release with a locking switch. Set the aperture and shutter as desired, select multi-shot shutter mode, compose a nice scene, and lock the switch open to begin Rambo-style machine-gunning....

[RickFL]

Anyone have any pictures they can share? Please describe what filter you used (or lightning trigger) along with time of day or night approximately. Thanks!

After reading more reviews I'm getting more intrigued by the lightning triggers that are available. But they seem to range in price pretty wildly. The Patchmaster is about $100 all the way to $329 for the Lightning Trigger. Usually in photography you get what you pay for. Not sure if the same applies here.

[jannefoo]

Taken with Patchmaster lightning trigger, the old version that cost ~65€. They've since increased their prices and it seems that the cheapest model costs over 120 euros now. To date, this is the only storm I've been able to shoot since this night in 2009:







No filters in these, because it was night and I could expose for quite long.

[Geonerd]

A few examples:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1980623...th/6067272515/
No filters, no triggers. Twilight or after dark. Some shots were spray-and-pray, while others had me trying to anticipate the next bolt.

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/show...g-Shot-to-date
Some of these people did use a trigger, but I think you'll find that the standard solution you seem to be leaning toward -to buy another bleeping gadget - won't help as much as you might hope. I doubt anyone in this group used a filter of any sort. ( I think you need to get filters out of your head. )

[Hiekkamies]

Last summer I found myself in a situation, where there was a lighting storm in daylight and I had a nice view over it from high building. I improvised the following set up to get pictures:

Picture format set to jpg, F16 (or something similiar) and otherwise correct exposure to the sky. Shooting mode to contiunous and then I taped an almond over the shutter relase.

I ended up with around 500 pictures with maybe 10 lighting strikes in them. Got 100€ from local newspaper for one of them, so that almond paid itself back handsomely.

Good suggestions here, maybe I shoud also invest in one of those filters in the future.