Lightning shots

[40Hands]

Anyone try these? I LOVE thunder storms. Always have and probably always will. I just got this baby from my attic window. It's my second capture of a lightning bolt. I'm a bit limited when getting these shots as I only have one view from my attic window.

Post some if you have them.

Comments welcome as always.

Second one: http://www.pbase.com/broe/image/98072243


My first: http://www.pbase.com/broe/image/82068980
This one was accidentally in the wrong ISO.

 

[angry hampster]

They look really nice. I need to do that tomorrow -- we're supposed to be getting storms all day. It's something I've always thought about doing but never actually gone out and done. Perhaps I'll take my car out of town where it's actually dark and set up the 'pod inside.

 

[troytime]

i always want to go out and try....but i get really lazy at night (specially when i'm drinking vodka and playing call of duty 4)

 

[Alyx]

I've always wanted to do this but we never get thunder storms. I've not seen lightning in a couple years

Edit: the second shot looks a little tilted, might want to watch for that when you setup your gear. Also you might want to try a more zoomed out composition, a shot where the lightning adds to the shot rather than being the only thing.

 

[angry hampster]

alyx where do you live? I've seen lightning literally every day for the last 2-3 weeks here in Iowa. :laugh:

 

[soydios]

what's your technique? I'd like to try this sometime

 

[Krioni]

Originally posted by: soydios
what's your technique? I'd like to try this sometime

I too would like to know how you got these shots... they're great!

 

[xchangx]

I think the idea is low iso & long exposure, so iso 100 @ 5sec exposure and hope there's a lightning strike during the exposure.

 

[Alyx]

Originally posted by: angry hampster
alyx where do you live? I've seen lightning literally every day for the last 2-3 weeks here in Iowa. :laugh:

I'm in San Jose. We don't really get thunderstorms. I've heard the crack a couple times but not actually seen it in a long time.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: xchangx
I think the idea is low iso & long exposure, so iso 100 @ 5sec exposure and hope there's a lightning strike during the exposure.

Thats exactly how it was taken, according to EXIF.

 

[40Hands]

Originally posted by: sswingle

Originally posted by: xchangx
I think the idea is low iso & long exposure, so iso 100 @ 5sec exposure and hope there's a lightning strike during the exposure.

Thats exactly how it was taken, according to EXIF.

Sorry, I meant to respond earlier. Thanks for all the comments!

Yes this was how it was done except I used Bulb mode on my XT to be able to stop the exposure when I wanted to.

To get to bulb mode on a Canon, turn the dial to Manual (M) mode and increase the shutter speed past the 30 second mark and it will display "Bulb".

I basically would sit there and press the shutter down and hold it for a few seconds. If there was no lightning which is most of the time :laugh:, just let it go and start a new exposure. Start a new one right away or you will be sorry when that giant bolt comes along before you're ready!

Rather then type out the entire explanation, this site tells you pretty much how I did it.

http://www.lightningphotography.com/tips.html

 

[xchangx]

You may get better results using a remote

 

[40Hands]

Originally posted by: xchangx
You may get better results using a remote

Yeah. I am actually planning on getting one just for this purpose. For now though, I just lightly pressed the button down with my steady FPS trigger finger.

 

[Sassy Rabbit]

Nice reference - I think I am going to try this sometime this summer...

 

[GrJohnso]

Nice capture! I still haven't grabbed a good shot yet... Haven't even had a chance to try since switching to digital... A couple techniques commonly used are:

1. Lightning Trigger - A light activated trigger than you hook up to your remote. You setup the shot in manual mode, infinity focus if it's far off and you don't need any sharp focus of foreground objects, keep the ISO low, ~2second exposure... Some folks like a fairly wide open aperture... Step it down if you need more foreground in focus (buildings, etc).
2. Remote trigger - Manual 2-5 second, same settings as above, continuous shooting mode. Once you have the shot setup, and the lightning starts going off, just hold down the shutter and let it fire away until your card is full. For this you'll need to turn off any long exposure noise control off (black frame removal, etc). You won't miss a shot, and with a big card, you should be able to easily cover a few minutes worth of lightning activity before you fill the card up...

Info on shooting lightning, and links to the trigger..