First streak lightning capture

While it is not as dramatic as it could have been...it was still exciting nonetheless.

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what's the best way to do this other than clicking the shutter at the right moment and getting lucky?

Great picture! I love how that it is shot on an angle it gives the photo a sense of urgency.

Willyc7777 wrote in post #12597636
what's the best way to do this other than clicking the shutter at the right moment and getting lucky?

Lock the camera down on a tripod aimed at a reasonably active area. Use longer exposures with middle apertures, the lightning will still record because its so bright and the long exposure will give you allow you some ambient light to provide context in the scene.

gonzogolf wrote in post #12597645
Lock the camera down on a tripod aimed at a reasonably active area. Use longer exposures with middle apertures, the lightning will still record because its so bright and the long exposure will give you allow you some ambient light to provide context in the scene.

Well said

gonzogolf is correct. I only used a 5 second shutter on this shot. Otherwise, the processing takes too long and I could potentially miss other shots.

dmg1969 wrote in post #12603383
gonzogolf is correct. I only used a 5 second shutter on this shot. Otherwise, the processing takes too long and I could potentially miss other shots.

Processing? If by this you mean Long Exposure Noise Reduction in-camera I'd turn it off - you can control any noise as effectively, if not better, later on in Lightroom or similar processing software. Therefore you'll be able to set 30s exposures on a continuous shutter (if you have a shutter release cable of course).

Mike, I am an amateur hobbyist. Honestly, I don't process or crop any of my photos. They are all raw the way they are taken. And the processing I am referring to is the time it takes the camera to process between shots.

The only post processing I have done is using DSS when I take star photos. Other than that, I'm I guess what you call a purest. LOL!

What Mike is saying is you can move that function from in the camera, which takes longer and causes you to miss shots, to in the computer where it can be done better and at your leisure.

OK. AS I said...I am strictly an amateur hobbyist. How would I go about doing that? He had mentioned turning off noise reduction. I'm sure I can do that on the camera (Canon Powershot SX20IS). It's the after processing I would have trouble with. I do not have or use Photoshop. I would have to invest in it (or another software), which I'm really not sure I'm crazy about. As far as the length of exposure...I am limited by the camera to 15 seconds.

Willyc7777 wrote in post #12597636
what's the best way to do this other than clicking the shutter at the right moment and getting lucky?

Great picture! I love how that it is shot on an angle it gives the photo a sense of urgency.

Use an intervalometer and sit and wait, or use a light trigger like http://www.aeophoto.co​m/