[binary visions]

We've got a storm a-brewin' outside and I've been playing with my camera. I don't have much in the way of options here since it's torrential rain so I have to stay way back under my porch, and can't really venture out into a less sheltered area anyway lest I be zapped

I've been just punching out 8-10 second exposures in hopes that I capture a bolt or two. I got these two cool shots before the storm gave up the ghost. Thought I'd share.

Anyone else in the North Carolina area enjoying this storm?

 

[LordOpie]

nice!

That's one of the few things I really miss about Florida... the awesome and beautiful storms. It's boring here weather-wise.

 

[Skookum]

Coolness.

 

[jdcamb]

I have often tried to get lightning pics and failed with my digital camera. I only get the intitial flash and not the defined bolts. I must suck as as photog....

 

[yonton228]

Nice lightning, I envy you.I miss lightning sooo much. In 6 years of living in Washington state, I have not seen lightning once.

 

[stevew]

nice!

That's one of the few things I really miss about Florida... the awesome and beautiful storms. It's boring here weather-wise.

Funny.

I always thought the thunder storms in the Denver area were pretty cool. Especially when the sky turns a nice shade of blue/black and the temp drops about 20 degrees in about 20 minutes...

 

[antimony]

Yeah, our lightning is awesome! In NH it wasn't really that thrilling, but it's amazing down here... fun to watch.

 

[maxyedor]

Lucky we have a storm brewing here, but there's just rain and wind, nothing entertaining.

 

[PatBranch]

Those shots are so cool!

It's been raining constanly since 1am. It rained 80% of last week. This will make some nice snow, but we need to start working on Baldy. I heard Mammoth will get 7' this week.

 

[BigMike]

Nice shots

We got that same storm up here in good old Virginia. unfortunantly, I didn't get to see any of it because I was stuck inside with no windows!

 

[maxyedor]

unfortunantly, I didn't get to see any of it because I was stuck inside with no windows!

Prison?

 

[kinghami3]

Nice lightning, I envy you.I miss lightning sooo much. In 6 years of living in Washington state, I have not seen lightning once.

I feel like 10/15 years ago it was a regular occurrence... not so much nowadays

 

[adurham]

Big Storms and seeing lightening in your neighbors yard is one thing I really miss about living in NC. In washington we only get constant rain for days...on a positive note we have great riding

 

[BigMike]

Prison?

They keep telling me its not prison and that if I stop moving the straps wont hurt as much.............

 

[dump]

excellent shots mang! when did you move to NC? Always thought you were a boston guy.

 

[binary visions]

excellent shots mang! when did you move to NC? Always thought you were a boston guy.

New Hampshire, actually, not too far. Moved to NC last august to persue school, I'll be going back to get my B.S. full time in the fall. Hit a promotional wall in the workforce so it's time to get an education

 

[narlus]

very cool shots BV. good timing on the shutter release.

 

[binary visions]

good timing on the shutter release.

It's been said I have ninja-like reflexes.

 

[jacksonpt]

Cool. We get some good storms up here where I live. How did you take the pics? I've often thought about snapping pics of the better storms, but never knew how to do it. Do you just set the camera up with a slower shutter speed, or is there more to it than that?

 

[binary visions]

How did you take the pics? I've often thought about snapping pics of the better storms, but never knew how to do it. Do you just set the camera up with a slower shutter speed, or is there more to it than that?

It's not that hard, actually. The only trick is to get a shutter speed where you're getting enough exposure time to give you a good chance of capturing a bolt, but not so much that you'll over expose the whole image.

I was doing 8-10 second exposures at f/8 (the smallest aperture my camera will do), manually focused to infinity so the focus wouldn't hunt between exposures. The frames with no lightning in them came out almost completely black. I probably did 20-30 exposures for the three that actually came out well. Almost no post-processing, just a touch of noise reduction, then some unsharp mask to bring the edges back.

I tried doing a 25 second exposure but I captured more than one bolt in it and it blew the exposure. 8-10 seconds seemed to be the best place to settle. More than that turned the clouds some funny reds and purples, less didn't give enough time to capture the bolts.

 

[jacksonpt]

It's not that hard, actually. The only trick is to get a shutter speed where you're getting enough exposure time to give you a good chance of capturing a bolt, but not so much that you'll over expose the whole image.

I was doing 8-10 second exposures at f/8 (the smallest aperture my camera will do), manually focused to infinity so the focus wouldn't hunt between exposures. The frames with no lightning in them came out almost completely black. I probably did 20-30 exposures for the three that actually came out well. Almost no post-processing, just a touch of noise reduction, then some unsharp mask to bring the edges back.

I tried doing a 25 second exposure but I captured more than one bolt in it and it blew the exposure. 8-10 seconds seemed to be the best place to settle. More than that turned the clouds some funny reds and purples, less didn't give enough time to capture the bolts.

Cool, thanks for the info. I'll have to play around a bit during the next storm. While my camera isn't anything great, I do have a full manual mode, and I have gotten pretty good at making the camera work for me. It'll be intersing to see how they turn out.