Lightning -- almost

My first attempts at lightning photography. This was a 20 second exposure at f/2 and ISO
100. It wasn't until I read about it today that I realized I should've stopped it down more
and bumped up the ISO. That explains why the lightning streaks (a few separate bursts
in this exposure) are faint.

But I think it turned out fairly well. I had to take out some powerlines and a tree that
intruded a lot into my shot. Is it that noticeable? I'm terrible at that sort of work.

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Nice try... keep at it.. lightning is quite the illusive subject, but it's fun trying!

Ahh the first pic! Good effort mate, my first shot resulted in about 5 of the same image lol (you don't ever try it without a tripod).

If I could ever give hints is to learn to read the sky and understand a little bit about how thunderstorms behave. Once you observe enough you can gain an appreciation of what to expect from lightning and can easily set up for the right type of lightning.

I always shoot on ISO 100, anything higher forget it, I don't care what anyone says, if you have to go over 100 then the lightning is too far away! My fav range is from 5-15km. Aperatures generally from f/5.6 to f/11 if the lightning is quite intense or bright, or near rain which illuminates it a lot more but generally f5.6 to f/8.0 is what is needed when combined with ISO 100.

Also finally, always shoot on bulb. Never just set out and say I'll do 10 second or 20 second or 30 second exposures. What control do you have there? Absolutely none, make sure you decide how long you open that shutter according to the bolt you are trying to capture.

Thanks!

But, it's not quite my first shot. My first shot was black. So was the next one, and so on. It was just the first storm I attempted photographing. This was the last picture I took out of 150 or so, and about the 5th picture I took trying long exposures.

I didn't use bulb mode because I only had a make-do tripod and a newspaper stand to set it on. I had to hold the tripod from moving with one hand and protect the camera from water with the other.

ISO 100 is the right setting. However, I rarely find myself in need of anything higher than F4.0. most of my shots are at F 5.6, and rarely outside F8.0. Its a really cool landscape for shooting you have there though. Would look great with a big bolt in it!!!