Why didn't I photograph lightning?

Astraeus

Astraeus

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Ciaran
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During a particularly ferocious thunderstorm in Tuscany, I set my camera to 30 seconds and stopped down the aperture to f/22 to allow the shutter to stay open for longer. I then photographed a number of strikes but the image which was returned to the camera did not capture the flash.

I then attempted to open up the shutter to f/7.1 and use a 10-stop filter. Again I "caught" flashes but these were not recorded on the sensor.

What did I do wrong?
 
I suspect that they were recorded, but also that you shut out too much light. F/22 or using a 10 stop would be too dark for the lightning bolts.
 
DemiLion said:
I suspect that they were recorded, but also that you shut out too much light. F/22 or using a 10 stop would be too dark for the lightning bolts.
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On reflection that is what I put it down to. Is it then the case that, without interval timings, it just wouldn't have been possible given the strong ambient light?
 
Astraeus said:
On reflection that is what I put it down to. Is it then the case that, without interval timings, it just wouldn't have been possible given the strong ambient light?
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Hard in daylight, as shutter speeds can't be too long and you'll miss it.

One way around that is to set as long an exposure as you can without over-exposing the ambient light, say a few seconds if possible, then put the camera on continuous shooting mode and leave it to keep firing until you get something.
 
HoppyUK said:
Hard in daylight, as shutter speeds can't be too long and you'll miss it.
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Ooops. I'd rather stupidly assumed that the photo was being taken at night: mea culpa!

Good point & well made. Daytime lightning shots will be very hard. As Richard says, big memory card and keep shooting! :)
 
HoppyUK said:
Hard in daylight, as shutter speeds can't be too long and you'll miss it.

One way around that is to set as long an exposure as you can without over-exposing the ambient light, say a few seconds if possible, then put the camera on continuous shooting mode and leave it to keep firing until you get something.
Click to expand...

I was looking for a continuous shooting mode on my D7000 but couldn't locate one so I ended up giving up trying and just getting back to enjoying the storm. :shrug:
 
I spent an hour one night on holiday trying to photograph lighting, problem I had was pointing the camera in the right direction!
 
I recently came across this lightning shot made by repeated 20-second images stacked together which is a useful technique if you have a programmable shutter remote (very useful, and cheap).

It sounds like you've tried to use a single long exposure to capture the fleeting moment of the strike, but in doing so compromised on the exposure criteria that would give you the best record of a strike if you caught one. It would be better to optimise the individual exposures and simply take more of them.
 
I know its sort of cheating but CHDK allows motion detection quick enough to capture lightning. Trouble is we have very few storms in Essex to try it out on....
 
Aren't there some cameras that capture lightning quite easily as there is a "preflash" before the actual strike and the camera simply detects this?
 
Have sympathy with you. I have tried in vane to capture astride and to date ailed. I think they are such quick moment in time the are more illusive than you think. As precious posters have said it sound like a programable shutter release is what I will try next!
 
If you were trying to capture lightning strikes during daylight, it could be the ambient light was just too bright for the actual strike to stand out.
 
Thanks for that link, Phil. All makes very good sense and his results look impressive. Shame we don't get many storms here - can't remember the last good one with forked lightning down here in Devon, South West UK.
 
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