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I made this about 20 minutes ago. The storm is almost here :o) I let this storm get way too close. I had lightning behind me, above me, and in front of me. Don’t do that. If you get struck it might ruin your camera or worse… mess up your memory card.
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Thanks. It was fun (and intense)
Camera really doesn’t matter but it was a 5DMKIII
21mm Zeiss Distagon T* f2.8 @f2.8Bulb Mode.
ISO 100
f2.8
12s but this variedI chose this lens because it has a very accurate infinity stop. It’s hard to focus in the dark even when the lightning is flashing. That said, I started with a 70-200 f2.8 lens at 70mm. I focused on the moon. It’s pretty close to infinity lol
As mentioned, I was in Bulb mode, and for good reason. I could have used an intervalometer and set the shutter speed to 12s (the exposure time for the image that I posted) and let the camera capture whatever happens in each 12s span. By choosing Bulb I get to select when I open the shutter.
Storms have a character… or mood if you like that term better. The energy levels rise and fall. The energy moves in the cloud. The lightning will put on a show in one area and then seemingly turn off. After a while it’s kind of like shooting high school football. You learn the teams plays and you can almost predict where it’s going to go but there is still unpredictability. I saw that the lightning at the edge of the storm was starting to intensify so I change lenses and ran to a different location (less obstructed view) and waited… but not very long.
The process was simple. When I felt like there was about to be a strike or strikes in the case of this storm I opened the shutter and started counting. I knew from other exposures that 12s was better than 15s and ISO 100 was better than ISO 200 (for that range of shutter opening). There’s a balance for how long to keep the shutter open. Too long and the motion of the clouds muddy’s up the image. Too short and you miss something. It all sounds very thought out and planned but the reality is that I made some test exposures early on, adjusting the time and ISO as the storm got closer and brighter. The only thing that I really thought about was when to trip the shutter.
This storm was very energetic and there were a lot of opportunities. Sometimes they aren’t as energetic and the process is a little different. ISO is usually higher. I still use Bulb but I watch for the first flash, open the shutter, and release when the light goes away. Sometimes I also get a secondary flash and thanks to reflexes that are slower than lightning I catch the secondary flash. Sometimes I miss. I get a lot of dark frames and every now and then a full bolt of lightning from edge to edge with a ground strike as a bonus.
This is the frame before the posted image. There are two more less interesting images (but with lightning) before that and a lot of not that interesting experiments after it. All with lightning (mostly due to the energetic storm)
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The tear is one of the reasons that i changed lenses and moved. The one that got away was a long duration strike along the right side edge of the opening
Not related to the opening obviously but the storm spawned at least two tornadoes. I could see the rotation in the clouds as it got closer. It was unusual in that it didn’t rain until it was at least 45 minutes to an hour past my house
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Excellent, @michael-lloyd! We get some pretty amazing storms across Cape Cod Bay, and I am excited to try this technique out next month when on vacation!
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Stunning shots, @michael-lloyd, we don’t really get storms as dramatic as this, but it would be great to try any sort of storm………
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It’s a lot of fun. Once you try it a few times you’ll be hooked 🙂 It really isn’t hard to do though. The hardest part is getting the lightning to come into camera range without it being hazardous to your health. Make sure you check before the storm gets to you and after the storm has passed. One side or the other won’t have rain. I have yet to see a storm passing across my field of view but in the right situation that could be nice.
If I would have been thinking I would have set up a separate camera for a time lapse. I can’t seem to ever remember to do that.
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I finally updated my poor, unused blog. I made the post about lightning and how to shoot it
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@michael-lloyd, thanks, I’ve bookmarked it for future use….
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Thanks, @michael-lloyd, I have bookmarked it too!
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Lightening by Matt Hartigan on Light StalkingTook this in Byron Bay on a friends deck with storm overhead.
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Too close for comfort by Matt Hartigan on Light StalkingAnd after this one was so close you could feel heat and it shook the house, we went inside.
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Lightening Warwick.jpg by Peter Kuwert on Light Stalkingset camera up on tripod set iso 400, f9.0, 30sec manual focus, intervalometer every 3 sec’s
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