Posted: 6/18/2006 5:53:33 PM EDT
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We had a pretty good lightning storm here last night. I sat out and watched it for awhile and wished I could have taken pictures of it. I remember that my father was somewhat of a photographer (I say somewhat...we had a dark room in our house), and he took many pics of lightning. Unfortunately, he's not around any longer to ask about it, so I thought I'd ask you guys. What would be the best way (camera, lens, etc...) to be able to capture lightning? Do any of you have any cool shots that you've taken? (Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm not much of a photographer...though I'd like to be.) |
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Best way is at night in a reasonablly dark environment - you need a camera with long shutter speeds, and a tripod or other way to hold the camera steady. Aim the camera toward areas with good lightning activity and start taking photos... 4-8 second exposures, or bulb if your camera has it work well. You'll usually take a whole lot of photos in order to get a couple of good ones so digital is much less expensive, if you have a camera that can use long exposures. You can't react fast enough to see lightning and then photograph it. Gotta already have the shutter open when it happens. |
Now where would I find a storm chaser around here....Hmmmm.... 
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Hmmm,  I dunno. There are alot more here than you think.
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I was actually out in that storm taking lightning shots that night. 
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I use ISO 400, f/8 to f/16 depending on the distance. then run 30second exposures... will bulb when i get my cable. This is from a few weeks ago I had to brighten this one up in photoshop.. I got of work drove home grabbed cam and tripod then raced back over to where it was.. that was the last strike out of this cell.. it was extremely powerful when it started.  just messing around at my parents house a few years back.  over exposed.. if f-stop was a little higher I woulda caught the bolt going to the ground.  
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Sweet!!! Cool pics. |
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Here are a few of mine. I shoot with slide film so I do not leave my shutter open. Basically stand at attention waiting for the shots. I miss some shots doing it this way but as you can see, I still can get some good ones. Easiest way is to be away from city lights and leave your shutter open. My f/stop is usually set at f5.6 or 8. Shutter is set at the bulb setting. I also do multiple exposeures on one frame of film. They also make a device called a lightning trigger that fits on your camera where the flash attaches. Its around $300. I plan on buying one soon for my digital camera. The digital cameras have a bit more lag time with the shutter release so I have been having better results shooting film.      
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The Lightning Trigger has gotten some good reviews. What type of lag time do you have on your film bodies? My D2H is 37ms. Here's a tip that works well with fireworks and lightning alike: as others have mentioned, be away from other lighting sources and use a long shutter speed (30+ secs). The trick, though, is to use a baseball cap or something similar to cover the lens when there's no activity. This helps limit the exposure to just the things you want to capture. Of course, there is artistic design that could come into play here. Let's say you have a clear night with a lot of stars. You could not cover the lens and perhaps get some nice star trails along with the lighting assuming you've got a very long exposure. |
