Lightning!

chris321

chris321

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Chris
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Well, having heard that there was a chance of storms, I got my camera set up, then sprinted outside as soon as it started! I was pretty happy with myself for getting quite a few keepers, probably about 10 out of 60, which is pretty good going I reckon!

1.



2.



3.



4.



I wasn't quite sure on the last one, but I quite liked the light there for some reason. But feel free to disagree! And comments and/or criticism is welcomed!

Chris
 
DUDE!!! Awesome shots! I am seriously impressed!

For once its actually not bad weather here in sunny herts!

No3 is simply stunning! What were your exposure settings?
 
Impressive technique, i've got to say they lack foreground detail making for bad composition. But good shots all the same!
 
davidbridges said:
Impressive technique, i've got to say they lack foreground detail making for bad composition. But good shots all the same!
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I disagree with that one - in my opinion the foreground houses and silhouettes make for the viewers focus to be drawn to the lightning whilst still retaining a nice frame to it.

Just my opinion though. :)
 
Oh man, why don't we get more thunderstorms in the UK?
I've been waiting so patiently since I've started togging, and there hasn't been a decent storm yet :wacky:

Bloody awesome shots mate, seriously jealous!!
 
I got woken up at silly o'clock this morning by a colossal roar of thunder right above my house. I nearly jumped out of my skin :puke:

Awesome shots, absolutely loving them (y)
 
I've read its hard to shoot lightning so well done. I like the first shot the best as it shows the most energy.
 
Very impressive shots. How do you go about taking shots of lightning then? It's something I quite fancy a go at.
 
RichardC27 said:
Very impressive shots. How do you go about taking shots of lightning then? It's something I quite fancy a go at.
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Loong shutter speeds, tripod, remote shutter release and good guessing! Or massive CF card :LOL: and the bit where I fall down is you also need lightning!

These are all stunning examples. It takes years of practice and patience. Im not there yet :shrug:
 
Thanks so much for all the kind words! The technique was the acclaimed 'point-camera-at-sky-and-hope' method! The first 15 minutes were so frustrating, every time i pointed the camera somewhere, lightning would strike in the opposite direction! But eventually it steadied out in one place.

I set the camera up on a tripod, and connected the remote release. Set exposure to 'bulb', and aperture to f/10. Switched to manual focus, and turned the focus ring to just under infinity. Then snap away!

I was hoping the silhouettes would make enough forground interest for most people, but I'll try and get more in next time! And I did clone a few odd bits out of these, but I went a bit too far at first and they looked a bit bland without some of the aerials in!

Seriously, thanks so much everyone!

Chris
 
Ooo, nicely done... especially number #3 as the lightning seems to all be in frame. (y)

I might even be tempted to paint out the bits of silhouette as it'd look great with just the lightning and that purply tinged sky. :)
 
super shots .. ! ive never (as yet) had any successful shots of lightening ... soon hopefully ! :)
 
Awesome shots!!! 3 my fav too, I like how it just looks like the sky is stretching out to touch the aerial!
 
Thanks so much for even more kind words :D

It's only my second go at shooting lightning, the first I left the aperture at f/2.8 so although I just about got the strike, it was totally overexposed! This time I learnt my lesson, made sure the camera was set to f/10, and 'bulb' mode helped HUGELY!

It's just luck and perseverance, good luck to anyone trying it again soon!

Chris
 
nice pics chris, i tried taking some of lightning the other night.. didn't turn out too good, my camera wouldn't let me focus on just the sky, any help of how to do it next time?
 
Yeah, the autofocus won't work because the sky will tend to be completely black untill the strike itself! I focussed manually, just short of infinity. The large f-number means a big depth of field, so you don't have to be too accurate with it! Hope this helps!

Chris
 
great set of pic's there... well done on getting the shots...
 
Oh yes! You've got them nailed on. Not as easy as it looks, though!
But that is a superb collection of lightning shots, well done on capturing those. :)
 
Hi Chris,
I think at infinity focus, the DOF is irrelevent. You can use any f-number you like and as you say a small aperture helps with exposure time.
Great shots by the way.
 
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