Some Colorado Lightning Tonight :) F707

Shawn85616 · Jun 12, 2003

Colorado is second only to Florida in number of lightning strikes - you'd better believe it!

One thing I saw was so wierd! A flash of lightning lit up the sky... then died down... then the white light was replaced with bright green light! The whole sky along the mountains turned bright green. It was just like an aurora, but it certainly wasn't. Has anyone else seen something like that??

I haven't posted here in a while, so I'll share some pictures with you -- suggestions/critiques welcome.

These were some quick shots, taken just a few minutes ago, from my deck. F707.

Train passing by at the bottom of the frame

Close-up, Cheyenne Mountain

--Shawn

felsty · Jun 12, 2003

I particularly liked the last one. Good job!

Felsty

Shay Stephens · Jun 12, 2003

Very nice, I tried catching some tonight and got nothing but lit clouds :-(

Nice to see someone was able to get something

--
Shay

My Sony F707 & F717 Gallery: http://www.shaystephens.com/portfolio.asp
My F717 Observations: http://www.shaystephens.com/f717.asp

JacquesPere · Jun 12, 2003

Nice shots Shawn - I drive out to Colorado Springs almost every year from here in PA. I love watching the lightning shows on the mountains - it is a great spectacle!

--
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one - Albert Einstein

tom c19739 · Jun 12, 2003

Beautiful images! The Springs area seems to get more of this than where I am, near Boulder. Or maybe I don't look out of the window often enough! Could you post your camera settings, please? Thanks.

tom c

Mark Yedinak · Jun 12, 2003

Great shots. Some attempts at lightening pictures are on my list of things to try. The third picture is spectacular.

As far as the green goes, it almost sounds like St. Elmo's fire. It is green, but is usually on a much smaller scale.

--
Sony DSC-F717, Quantaray QB-383S by Sunpak, HGD-1758, still learning
http://www.kanidey.com/gallery.htm
http://www3.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=98716

Shawn85616 · Jun 12, 2003

These are all 30 sec exposures, I just pushed the shutter, went inside, grabbed some chips, went back out to see what was captured. The first two were f/2. The last one was f/8. Last one is a little blown out on the main bolt, unfortunately. But honestly, that's one of my best lightning pics so far, so I'm happy with it!

Thanks for the comments, they're encouraging

rik young · Jun 12, 2003

i like the 3rd one too.

rik

PittsPilot · Jun 12, 2003

Hey Shawn,

I enjoyed your pics and miss the lightning of Colorado. I'm currently living in Poland. I've ordered a 717 and it's waiting for me in Boulder - 2 more weeks to wait.

Nice Shots.
Pitts

leo161830 · Jun 12, 2003

how much time did you spend to take these pix?

Shawn85616 · Jun 12, 2003

Pitts,

Are you moving to Boulder?

Shawn85616 · Jun 12, 2003

I only spent about 10 minutes, I was in a hurry to take them and send some to a friend in Denver before he went to bed :-D

Michael Puff · Jun 12, 2003

...a lot of feeling of "the moment" in those shots. Wonderful colors and feeling of ceiling with the cloud cover. Thanks for posting such a great moment.

Michael

leo161830 · Jun 12, 2003

only 10 mins?
i m in s.california no these kind of things going on.

JoeSchmoe · Jun 12, 2003

I especially love the second and third shots. Best lightning pictures I've seen in a long time. The underlit clouds add great drama and mood. I think the passing train detracts from the first image, though.

Great pics!

Joe

Steven W. Bennett · Jun 12, 2003

The first and second look like tornados or mushroom
clouds. Did you see any cows fly by? I suppose it's really
just time-exposed scud.

Great shots!

DeeDee G. · Jun 12, 2003

I miss a good thunder and lightening storm so much!

We don't get there here in Southern Cal.

I do want to get out to Colorado this summer and hopefully get some good shots!

Can you tell us your photo info? Exposure time etc.

--
DeeDee G.
http://www.pbase.com/deedee_g/root

Shawn85616 · Jun 13, 2003

DeeDee -

These are all 30 sec exposures. I used manual mode and manual focus to infinity. ISO 100. I just pushed the shutter, went inside, grabbed some chips, went back out to see what was captured. The first two were at f/2. The last one was at f/8. Last one is a little blown out on the main bolt, unfortunately. But honestly, that's one of my best lightning pics so far, so I'm happy with it!

Thanks for the comments, they're encouraging

-Shawn

Shawn85616 · Jun 13, 2003

We have lightning pretty often, but it's actually sort of rare to line up all these elements:
-at night
-large bolts over the mountains, striking the ground
-no rain obscuring the bolts
-no rain or lightning at my house

I also learned something by doing this.

At f/2, I seemed to get a lot of stray light (from city) that softened the bolts. f/8 did a great job of freezing it and keeping it sharp.

Also, I was worried that if the bolt came early on in the exposure, would stray light soften it? I guess the answer is no - because the bolt in the 3rd shot came within the first 10 seconds.

Oh yeah, don't use anything but ISO 100 (or lowest setting) for lightning shots. You'll capture everything just fine, and you don't need any more grain!

Time to try this with film, I think

--Shawn

Cliff. Johnston · Jun 13, 2003

--
Cliff. Johnston

Nice images.

Never saw a green sky but - time for a recollection - while driving to

Waco about 3 years ago I saw a most unusual lightning strike. It came straight down out of the clouds in front of me, 2 or 3 miles away, as I came over the top of a hill. The lightning bolt appeared to be as thick as an old live oak tree - at least 10x greater across than anything I had ever seen or probably will see. The thunder clap was tremendous and the air reverberated with the sound. It was a truly awesome sight. No pics though - too unexpected.

Some Colorado Lightning Tonight :) F707

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