Lake Maggiore Storm

[JohnC6]

I photographed this lightning last Tuesday morning at 0230 on our holiday at Lake Maggiore..north Italy. I'd liked to have gone down to the lakeside but the hotel doors were locked at 0230 so I had to settle for the balcony. The first three were at 0230 and then that evening at about 10.30pm another storm came and was much more active. Unfortunatley, much of it was intra-cloud.... what most refer to as 'sheet lightning' There was cloud to cloud and a few cloud to ground. It's was really frustrating not to have been able to have gone out of the hotel (a family business so not a large one) across the road to the lakeside.


0230...







2230

 

[JohnC6]

Only six photos are allowed in one post hence this 7th.here.

 

[ihasa]

Amazing!

 

[eccles lad]

fantastic shots , colours are great too, nice.

 

[JohnC6]

Amazing!

fantastic shots , colours are great too, nice.

Thank you, both

 

[Dale.]

Cool, not an easy thing to capture.

 

[JohnC6]

Cool, not an easy thing to capture.

Thanks, Dale. I had plenty of practice over the years in the US. I miss those storms.

 

[SFTPhotography]

6th and 7th are best, as they are whole pictures with the water, land and sky

 

[NCV]

Pretty impressive, even if shot from the balcony.

 

[JohnC6]

6th and 7th are best, as they are whole pictures with the water, land and sky

Thanks,Steve. Yes, always better with the lake ,hills and sky in it but it depended on where the cells were..a lot of it was, initially, intra-cloud (IC) and cloud >cloud (CC)

 

[JohnC6]

Pretty impressive, even if shot from the balcony.

Thanks,Nigel. One has to do one's best .. It was quite frustrating as there was a palm tree a few metres away,right in my line of sight for some cells ,then long wide metal tubes that stopped the ferries hitting the prom by the terminal..what else..oh,yes, a brolly right at the front of the balcony two rooms away. Never mind, they turned out ok.

 

[swanseamale47]

I photographed this lightning last Tuesday morning at 0230 on our holiday at Lake Maggiore..north Italy. I'd liked to have gone down to the lakeside but the hotel doors were locked at 0230 so I had to settle for the balcony. The first three were at 0230 and then that evening at about 10.30pm another storm came and was much more active. Unfortunatley, much of it was intra-cloud.... what most refer to as 'sheet lightning' There was cloud to cloud and a few cloud to ground. It's was really frustrating not to have been able to have gone out of the hotel (a family business so not a large one) across the road to the lakeside.


0230...
View attachment 395659


View attachment 395660

View attachment 395661

2230
View attachment 395662

View attachment 395663

View attachment 395665

WOW!

 

[Stuart Philpott]

John teach me ........................how do you make images like this what lens what techs.? where does one start Lol Ii'm ok with ya fail alot first stu

Mate why are the colours so different in the first 3 images to the last 4?

what do you mean by "cells "

Buddy I find all of 'em astounding you have Shaz's approval too ( that's a deal bud she's harsh) I don't really know how to critique!! So gut feelings.......I like the last mate bar it beiing square really appreciate you can't be where you want the POV you want. reflections??? A whole host of intangibles I can't fathom

I really like the anchor of land the hills in black the tiny lights against the rage of the storm, those frames. I think repeat think I understand why you wanted to be lower, said the guy who spend most of his toggin' exploits with his nose in the mud !!

Buddy fabulous enthralling work special to look at as Wayne says WOW.....sorry for all the blummin Q's what can I say.....sometimes ya see a set of images and what to know everything about how to make something like that

Fab buddy hat off

stu

 

[JohnC6]

John teach me ........................how do you make images like this what lens what techs.? where does one start Lol Ii'm ok with ya fail alot first stu

Mate why are the colours so different in the first 3 images to the last 4?

what do you mean by "cells "

Buddy I find all of 'em astounding you have Shaz's approval too ( that's a deal bud she's harsh) I don't really know how to critique!! So gut feelings.......I like the last mate bar it beiing square really appreciate you can't be where you want the POV you want. reflections??? A whole host of intangibles I can't fathom

I really like the anchor of land the hills in black the tiny lights against the rage of the storm, those frames. I think repeat think I understand why you wanted to be lower, said the guy who spend most of his toggin' exploits with his nose in the mud !!

Buddy fabulous enthralling work special to look at as Wayne says WOW.....sorry for all the blummin Q's what can I say.....sometimes ya see a set of images and what to know everything about how to make something like that

Fab buddy hat off

stu

Thanks,Stu..I'm bowled over

First off .....a full frame camera,a tripod and a remote cable. I also use my old iPod..it has a stop watch on it. I still have my sturdy workhorse the Canon 5D11. All my gear is Canon .Most of my photos have been taken with another tried and tested lens..the 24-105 f4. It's so versatile. If I want to 'get in' on lightning or it's a bit of a way off I've used my 70-200f4. Out on the US Plains most times there's a distant light...either a farmstead or a red light on top of a mast, to warn aircraft. I would use Live View to focus on it with the lens in manual. You should then have sharp infinity.You can see such a red warning light on the summit of the hill to the right of the lightning in my first shot above..It was obvious to me that I'd need some ISO for it. Sometimes ISO200 but the other photos where the lightning was much brighter I had ISO100. Usually f4.5-7.1. During a US tour I accidentally had f11 on one occasion (photo below)but got the perfect shot because the two strikes were far too close for safety tbh and the f11 cut down the brightness which f4 would have blown out. The others in the group were envious...lol. We had to move immediately, though. You have to check the LCD, too. I rely on that more than the histogram.You have to accept that at the start you will most likely lose some shots adjusting. So....aim the lens at the part of the sky where the lightning is...mainly..because there could be another cell nearby but not as active. Use the remote to open the shutter and leave it open. For how long to keep it dark ? Trial and error. Usually about 7 seconds but if you can get 9-12 great because it increases your chances and the reason for that is that Sod's law applies 7 seconds and no lightning so you release the shutter cable, the shutter closes and in that instance there's a before you can open it again.That's how it goes. Lots of cursing. You also need an 8/16/32 GB CF card because of the constant open/close of the shutter. Sometimes I'll count up to seven seconds or more..1000,2000,3000 etc but I prefer to use the iPod stop watch, it's accurate. You'd be surprised at how much light there is even in complete darkness so you can imagine I wasn't too happy with the promenade lights lakeside. Also other lights around where people were eating outside for the second set taken around 8.30pm.

Different coloured lightning depends on a number of factors.The first photos were taken 0207-0229. Sometimes here in the UK you will get an orangy sunset due to Saharan dust. I'm assuming there was dust like that up in the atmosphere that night because that's what would cause lightning to be that colour. The other photos were taken the same day but from 2030 -2200. No dust. As you see these bolts were much closer hence their blue/white colour which happens in alow moisture atmosphere...ie no rain.

This is a very good and easily-understood read. https://outforia.com/what-color-is-lightning/

You asked about "cells" They are updraughts/downdrafts.

While each individual thunderstorm cell in a multi-cell cluster behaves as a single cell, the prevailing atmospheric conditions are such that as the first celll matures it's carried along by the upperlevel winds with a new cell forming upwind of the previous cell to take its place..

Multicell cluster storm. The most common. https://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/stars/tstypes.html

Taken from that link:
"The multicell cluster is the most common type of thunderstorm. The multicell cluster consists of a group of cells, moving along as one unit, with each cell in a different phase of the thunderstorm life cycle. As the cluster moves along, each cell takes its turn as the dominant cell in the cluster. New cells tend to form at the upwind (usually western or southwestern) edge of the cluster. Mature cells are usually found at the center of the cluster with dissipating cells at the downwind (usually eastern or northeastern) edge of the cluster.

To show you how a cell moves I took a photo of one moving along a line of hills. I kept the shutter open long enough to capture several cloud to ground bolts. We were in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico near a small town called Deming so no lights hence the time I was able to keep the shutter open for....83 seconds. When you see photos like this the the photographer hasn't captured a series of simultaneous bolts but a series of individual bolts on long exposure.

You asked about reflections. I have seen shots of reflections but they were all cloud to ground strikes close to water...like a city waterfront area and not behind hills. I imagine the photographer would have to be up on a hill to get reflections.

I have more lightning photos in my Flickr. I need to spend time uploading more photos to it.They start at the bottom of page 1. https://www.flickr.com/photos/151492482@N05/

24-105mm f4. f6.3 ISO 100..LE......83secs.


Here's the bolts I took at f11...in error...lol. We had to 'get outta there" fast. We drove about three miles away and watched it from there.

A rare double bolt. Kansas

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Lol bowled over John thanks for the above and your time, buddy, the above post is very generous and kind bless ya. THANK YOU !!

Ha i'll have to read that a few times to bang it all in to my thick skull, but hey you knew that.

Have FF camera 1DXii, ( also use canon) don't yet have proper tripod, but am actively searching at this time................................... a wise man taught me eons back watch the bay long enough and a bargain will be had..that's you by the way John.

My "style" of beastie toggin is so much about hand holding, mate, other things have always been more pressing than my yearned for tripod, ( the dream is a gitzo GT 4552/3 but I'm becoming less picky..not much but slightly less )

Lens wise am also trying to broaden horizons just nabbed a 16-35 F4 this very week ( tis in gorgeous nick) questing a 70-200 f2.8 IS ii as we speak sort of want to explore an old fool getting to close with his beloved ickle aminals.

So at this time exploration of lighting is down to me 400DOii me 100mil is macro and the new wide angle sort of juxta to the 24-105 recommendation., So maybe in time I can explore as I don't have the tool kit right now.

John is the first of the new images EXP 83 sec.? Maybe 8.3???

Buddy, I must say again thank you, for all your time.................... your images enthrall me ......... one day I want to explore

I do like this image in my head though of a guy picking up a tripod .............jumping in a buggy and hot footing it outa there after nabbing a piccy

ahh mate I love that

 

[Tysonator]

Some wonderful images, very dramatic.

I am off to this Lake later this year.

 

[JohnC6]

Some wonderful images, very dramatic.

I am off to this Lake later this year.

Thanks for comment. Where are you staying ? Not the hotel, which town ?

 

[JohnC6]

Lol bowled over John thanks for the above and your time, buddy, the above post is very generous and kind bless ya. THANK YOU !!

Ha i'll have to read that a few times to bang it all in to my thick skull, but hey you knew that.

Have FF camera 1DXii, ( also use canon) don't yet have proper tripod, but am actively searching at this time................................... a wise man taught me eons back watch the bay long enough and a bargain will be had..that's you by the way John.

My "style" of beastie toggin is so much about hand holding, mate, other things have always been more pressing than my yearned for tripod, ( the dream is a gitzo GT 4552/3 but I'm becoming less picky..not much but slightly less )

Lens wise am also trying to broaden horizons just nabbed a 16-35 F4 this very week ( tis in gorgeous nick) questing a 70-200 f2.8 IS ii as we speak sort of want to explore an old fool getting to close with his beloved ickle aminals.

So at this time exploration of lighting is down to me 400DOii me 100mil is macro and the new wide angle sort of juxta to the 24-105 recommendation., So maybe in time I can explore as I don't have the tool kit right now.

John is the first of the new images EXP 83 sec.? Maybe 8.3???

Buddy, I must say again thank you, for all your time.................... your images enthrall me ......... one day I want to explore

I do like this image in my head though of a guy picking up a tripod .............jumping in a buggy and hot footing it outa there after nabbing a piccy

ahh mate I love that

Yes, it takes a bit to take it all in. That's excellent gear.Stu. I have a 17-40mm f4 but it's often too wide to get a reasonable closeness for lightning. In my screengrab below you'll see that photo was taken at 105mm. Beyond that I had the 70-200f4 to hand.

My bold in your reply. I wrote 83 secs f6.3. As you see should have been 81seconds. I can recall it as if it were this week. It was very warm..about 80F..several storms ran along those hills so we were there a while. I opened the shuttter and walked to the van..15m away,got a bottle of water and a banana and slowly meandered back to the camera and closed the shutter and found that shot. One of the guides looked at it and said "I hate yer,Jaaan "...lol. Over there I'm "Jaaaan" Then he called the others over to see it.

I screen grabbed the data.

 

[Tysonator]

Thanks for comment. Where are you staying ? Not the hotel, which town ?

Stressa,...

 

[JohnC6]

Stressa,...

Lovely town and we think it's much 'prettier' down that end and it's where we'll go next time. You can visit the islands,too. We're both retired now and someone told us that over 65's get a discount on the ferries. 33%. We had to show our passports on some trips.Maybe you don't qualify, though .We'll also go in September. 33C was a bit much for us.

Hopefully, most travellers from here will have been fingerprinted by next September. It starts at the beginning of next year, after a delay. Can you imagine the queues ? https://www.timeout.com/news/youll-...(dubbed the,as having their passports scanned.

Have a great trip. It's wonderful.

 

[Tysonator]

Stressa,...

I was hoping to do a day trip to the foot of Zermat and Matterhorn

 

[JohnC6]

I was hoping to do a day trip to the foot of Zermat and Matterhorn

Yes..I'd go for that. I see it's a 3 hour trip on the ferry/train.. Bus 6hrs 44...lol. We intended to take a boat trip to the north end to Ascona/Lacano in Switzerland but didn't make it. It took us 2 hours on the boat to get to Stresa from Canerro via Luino (opposite side of the lake where we had to change ferries) because it stopped several times en-route so from Stresa that trip on the boat would be quite long.