Lightning at 57 miles

I was having lightning withdrawl so I decided to shoot a storm that was ways away on the horizon. After I downloaded the images off the camera I checked the local radar. The nearest storm was 57 miles away! Must have been a huge storm. I shot this with the 70-200 @ 104mm, ISO 400, 13sec, f/4. It's amazing how far you can see in the desert. The mountains in the photo are around 20 miles away.

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I was in Orlando day before yesterday, the lightning capital of Florida. That is an awesome shot Rick.

Wonderful shot. 57 miles is relatively safe.

Rick, Is that one bolt of lightning from top to bottom?

I like the photo.

My guess that it is one bolt. I shot 152 frames and that one was the only one worth keeping. I did manage to catch upward lightning in another frame. Too bad it was a little out of focus. You can see the faint outline of the cloud top which was the highest part of the storm. This is a 100% crop.

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Great shot, you seem to have a knack for these kind of photos!

That is a spectacular photo, Rick. I like the way the lightning illuminates the tops of the cumulus. And many thanks for posting the upward going lightning. I am not sure that very many people are aware of the fact that various forms of discharges can go upwards from the tops of thunderstorms, let alone ever having seen them. I was on a trip once where we we flying above a very extended storm front - I saw many clear discharge glows above the clouds on that trip.

That first one is a great shot Rick well captured I love how it goes in and then comes out at the bottom.

Amazing image, well done.

I love the first shot too. Great knowing you can get auch a good shot so far away!

Amazing shot Rick.