Lightning... Finally! (56K Zap)

Absolutely phenomenal mate!

It's actually a lot easier than it seems. If you're having a good night of lightning, with some repetitive strikes, you don't really have to plan much. It's almost as easy as shooting fireworks. I suspect Richard was experiencing a good repetition of lightning that night and all he had to do is sit back with the shutter open for extended periods of time to get those great captures. The longer exposure shots tend to be the ones with the illuminated clouds.

I'll show you how easy it is. Here's a link to some pictures I took a couple of months ago:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=194385

This was my first attempt at lightning shots. I set up a tripod on my girlfriend's third-floor patio and sat inside with my release cable in hand. I watched TV while I took numerous exposures...some as little as 8-10 seconds, others as long as 40-50 seconds. The only thing you have to be careful of is OVER-exposure. If you let too many close strikes happen in one exposure, it'll blow out the picture. So that's all you really need to pay attention to as far as timing goes. And yes...you will find yourself deleting a LOT of wasted shots. Thank goodness for digital!

THESE ARE BY FAR THE BEST LIGHTNING PICS I HAVE EVER SEEN! VERY PROFESSIONAL!

Dang, you guys get all the good lightning out in the desert.. .. I haven't had one good storm this year in Temecula. It seem to just miss us; like it will go over Hemet or Anza/Aguanga... Fantastic shots!

Is lightning one of your favorite things to shoot?
I dont know if you ever check the weather on the web, but I found this lightning strike map a few years ago and have used it every summer since to track the storms. Maybe it could help you too, so here ya go: https://thunderstorm.v​aisala.com/tux/jsp/exp​lorer/explorer.jsp

Thanks everyone for the compliments and since there was questions about how it is done here is my guidance for lightning photos.

Lightning less than 6-8 miles. Use a wide-angle lens. These were shot at 17mm with my 17-40mm f/4L. A sturdy tripod is required with the heavier the better the rule. This is due to gusty winds associated with storms. If the lightning is really bright and or streaking I use ISO 100 and set the shutter to 10sec and the aperture between f/5.6 and f/8. If dim lightning or I want to catch clouds being illuminated with flash lightning then ISO 200 and aperture is between f/4 and f/5.6. Usually the question I get is “why not set to bulb?’ Two reasons. (1) Less chance of getting unwanted noise or hot pixels and (2) I don’t want to take the chance that a shot will be overexposed by another flash of lightning.

For distant lightning I use a telephoto lens. The further away the storm is, the amount of lightning is less frequent so I set the shutter to 13-15 seconds and the aperture as wide as possible to catch those. In my case the fastest lens I have is f/4. ISO is set to 200 or 400 depending on the distance.

Set everything up and start clicking. After your first good catch... CHIMP! Make sure your focus is spot on. Once that is set, click as quickly as possible since Murphy’s Law will have the lightning strike in between shots. I do not use noise reduction nor mirror lock-up. As soon as the shot is over immediately start another exposure. Remember this is digital so you can delete. I shot over 750 that night and already deleted 163, marked 105 that I would consider processing and the rest will get a second chance or deleted. Forget about trying to expose and adjust every shot. Be patient, and you will catch those few great ones so base your exposure that way! Also if there is a particular foreground subject like a cityscape or houses you can adjust your exposure. Keep in mind it is the aperture and ISO that controls the lightning being exposed properly not the shutter speed. Some other extras that make it easier is I do have a remote cable that I built. I can sit in my patio chair and kick back (and not jiggle the camera) and if the lightning is really close I can remote from in the house. Remember safety? My Wife will let me know when it’s time to take cover. The last shot you can see a telephone pole on the right. The bolt was above it and that pole was about 30 yards from my position by my garage. Right after that shot I moved under my porch! As to staying dry… I have no tricks to avoid rain. All I do is shoot from under my porch and face the camera downwind until the rain stops. There have been times that I have to pack up and wait till the worst part of the storms pass.

I do shoot strictly RAW so I can manipulate the exposure a little if needed and set a more accurate White Balance. I do play with the linear curve to increase contrast and to help setting the black point. Of course no photo would be complete without a little Photoshop for more curves and sharpening.

Thanks again and hope a storm passes your way!

You can almost feel the power of the storm in those shots, really like 4 & 6

Those are amazing!!! Well done!

Wow. I think 4,5,6 are the best. Amazing shots.

Great shots! Pic 4 You should photoshop in a womans body inside the lighting and call it "Mother Nature" Peace MJEXP

Thanks for the advice! Can't wait for bad weather to try for myself.

Brilliant Richard,

There are so many good shots there you could go on for days in Adobe fiddling with them.

I hope you were protecting yourself in some way from getting hit. The bottom photo looks like there was nothing around except telephone poles. Keep checking your hair Richard... Bdzzzzdddddd.

Half the fun of taking dangerous shots is posting them in here eh?

Yer mad Cousin.

These are dang good. You should be proud of your efforts.

Thanks for the GREAT detail and simple discription...I wish we had lightening storms up here so I could try this out....

Excellent shots. I picked up a cable release after I tried your method of shooting w/ a 10 sec.+ shutter speed. The lightning here comes a lot less frequent, even during a good storm so buld would be helpful. Since getting the cable release months and months ago... no more "dry" electrical storms