Lightning Crashes

[Richard Thrift]

Hi everyone,

Tonight we had a very spectacular Thunderstorm over the Blue Mountains and Sydney. Good opportunity to try out my Storm photo's (again). Some came out ok, considering that the 4900z doesn't have a bulb setting.

Here's a sample.



If you have the time, please have a look at my Pbase gallery of other lightning images (use the pbase link below).

What do you think? How do you make these images?

Cheers

Richard--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact..
http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htm
http://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_
http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[liza wallis]

You've done it again Richard... this is a wonderful image. I think lightening shots are very impressive and this one ranks right up there with the best of them. Haven't had a chance to look at the rest of your lightening gallery... will check it out later.

What settings did you use to capture this?

Really well done. Thanks for posting...
liza--www.lizawallis.com

 

[Jerry Hazard]

Really Keen images Richard! I never even thought about trying to capture lightning with my digital. Thanks for the inpiration. Soon, we will have spring thunderstorms here and I'll have to give this a try.

-Judging from the reddish tint, I'd venture to say that maybe there's a filter over your lens? The tint reminds me of how images look from my Hoya infra red filter. Are you just doing the 3 sec exposures?
Thanks for sharing, take care
Jerry

Hi everyone,
Tonight we had a very spectacular Thunderstorm over the Blue
Mountains and Sydney. Good opportunity to try out my Storm photo's
(again). Some came out ok, considering that the 4900z doesn't have
a bulb setting.

Here's a sample.



If you have the time, please have a look at my Pbase gallery of
other lightning images (use the pbase link below).

What do you think? How do you make these images?

Cheers
Richard
--
Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes,
misguided opinions or lack of tact..
http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htm
http://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_
http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

-- http://www.angelfire.com/film/jhazard/http://www.pbase.com/jhazard

 

[gingerbaker]

Superb picture! Do you change settings on EV to not oversaturate?--Gingerbaker http://www.pbase.com/gingerbaker/galleries

 

[greggn]

Hi everyone,
Tonight we had a very spectacular Thunderstorm over the Blue
Mountains and Sydney. Good opportunity to try out my Storm photo's
(again). Some came out ok, considering that the 4900z doesn't have
a bulb setting.

Here's a sample.

Phenominal. Absolutley phenominal.

Gregg.

 

[Paul R]

Wonderful shot Richard.

How did you manage to catch it?

Texas is comming into it's Thunderstorm season and I hope to catch some as well.

Paul R.

Hi everyone,
Tonight we had a very spectacular Thunderstorm over the Blue
Mountains and Sydney. Good opportunity to try out my Storm photo's
(again). Some came out ok, considering that the 4900z doesn't have
a bulb setting.

Here's a sample.



If you have the time, please have a look at my Pbase gallery of
other lightning images (use the pbase link below).

What do you think? How do you make these images?

Cheers
Richard
--
Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes,
misguided opinions or lack of tact..
http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htm
http://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_
http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[Dominique Guerra]

Woaw !
DoG

How did you manage to catch it?

Texas is comming into it's Thunderstorm season and I hope to catch
some as well.

Paul R.

Hi everyone,
Tonight we had a very spectacular Thunderstorm over the Blue
Mountains and Sydney. Good opportunity to try out my Storm photo's
(again). Some came out ok, considering that the 4900z doesn't have
a bulb setting.

Here's a sample.



If you have the time, please have a look at my Pbase gallery of
other lightning images (use the pbase link below).

What do you think? How do you make these images?

Cheers
Richard
--
Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes,
misguided opinions or lack of tact..
http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htm
http://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_
http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

--

--DoG

 

[Earl Bishop]

Electrifying shots Richard!! Can you give any tips on how to take this type of picture.
Thanks for sharing.

Hi everyone,
Tonight we had a very spectacular Thunderstorm over the Blue
Mountains and Sydney. Good opportunity to try out my Storm photo's
(again). Some came out ok, considering that the 4900z doesn't have
a bulb setting.

Here's a sample.
http://genji.image.pbase.com/u8/nighteyes_27/upload/1485926.Dscf3868s

If you have the time, please have a look at my Pbase gallery of
other lightning images (use the pbase link below).

What do you think? How do you make these images?

Cheers
Richard
--
Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes,
misguided opinions or lack of tact..
http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htm
http://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_
http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

--Greetings from CanadaEarl

 

[Richard Thrift]

Thanks Liza,

We don't get many opportunities to get these images around here, so took advantage when I could.

My settings were Shutter: 3secs, Apeture:from f5-f10, ISO:125 and used 5-frame shooting. Had to do some adjustments in post processing, but that was just the reduction in brightness and hot pixels. No images were cropped...

Cheers

Richard--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact.. http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htmhttp://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[Richard Thrift]

Thanks Jerry,

I'm guessing that the reddish tint came from the white balance. I had it set on shade, but perhaps it should have been incandesant? Not really sure to be honest.

I used 5 frame shooting at 3secs per frame. This gave a better chance of catching the lightening as it streaked across the sky. Kept the trees in the foreground to show scale and composiiton.

Cheers
Richard

Really Keen images Richard! I never even thought about trying to
capture lightning with my digital. Thanks for the inpiration. Soon,
we will have spring thunderstorms here and I'll have to give this a
try.

-Judging from the reddish tint, I'd venture to say that maybe
there's a filter over your lens? The tint reminds me of how images
look from my Hoya infra red filter. Are you just doing the 3 sec
exposures?
Thanks for sharing, take care
Jerry

--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact.. http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htmhttp://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[Richard Thrift]

Thanks Greg....nature at its best...

Cheers

Richard--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact.. http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htmhttp://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[Richard Thrift]

Thanks Paul,

The way I catch these type of shots is firstly, pick a section of sky and stick with it throughout the storm. Use a tripod. The settings were shutter speed: 3secs, Apeture: f5-f10 (this varied, but I would suggest f10 normally), ISO:125 (or lower if you use the 6900z). The white balance is still up in the air at the moment, as there is a red tint on all of these and not sure if Shade was the best choice. Use 5-frame shooting continually (unless your reactions are better than mine). I went through 2 batteries and almost 100meg of memory to catch these shots.

Cheers
Richard

--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact.. http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htmhttp://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[Richard Thrift]

Thanks Dog...--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact.. http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htmhttp://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[Richard Thrift]

Thanks Earl,

Number 1. Be patient! It took me around 2 hours, 2 batteries and 100meg of cards to get this collection together..

I selected a piece of sky (with some foreground being trees) and stayed with it for the duration of the storm. Use a tripod.

Camera settings. Shutter 3secs, Apeture:f5-f10 (use f10), ISO:125 (low as possible), 5 frame shooting. White balance: I used shade but this might not be right.

I shot constantly throughout the storm. My reactions are not so quick so took a dose of luck with me.

Cheers
Richard

--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact.. http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htmhttp://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[Daryl Krasu]

Richard,
That is an amazing shot. I did try to capture some shots too (in Sydney).

But I didn't have correct setup and dry enough spot to take shots. My room's facing the opposite direction. By the time I've taken the flyscreen out of the window in another room, the storm's gone,, lol. Just my luck.

Thank you very much for the information on the setup.

Hope it's not like that when I visit next month.
:->

Daryl

 

[Richard Thrift]

Thanks Daryl,

Unlucky with the storm mate. I'm hoping that we continue to have a few more over the next couple of nights...if thats the case will drive to a lookout and try taking some looking over Sydney...

Cheers
Richard

--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact.. http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htmhttp://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27

 

[RJNedimyer]

Richard,

Very, Very Nice!!
--RayRJNedimyer

 

[Doug Jones]

Thanks Daryl,

Unlucky with the storm mate. I'm hoping that we continue to have a
few more over the next couple of nights...if thats the case will
drive to a lookout and try taking some looking over Sydney...

Richard, Daryl,

The storm was too early here in Canberra yesterday for night shots. I was busy dodging hailstones on the way to an afternoon appointment!!

Richard, I think lightning would be closer to sunlight white balance setting - a bit like arc lamp spotlights. The combination of arc spotlights and other incandescent lighting in stage productions always makes it hard to take a good colour shot in that lighting mix in my experience.

Great shots anyway - whatever the colour caste. --Doug JonesCanberra http://www.panamagic.com.au

 

[Doug Jones]

Just looked at the BOM Synoptic Analysis forecast for 10pm tonight and it looks promising for you. A low pressure trough over Sydney should give some instability. How will you keep the rain/wind out of your lookout location??
--Doug JonesCanberra http://www.panamagic.com.au

 

[Richard Thrift]

With grit and determination Doug...

Hopefully if I get my timing right, the storm will have just passed over and the shots will be in the distance rather than right over my head as last nights were.

Cheers
Richard
PS Thanks for the info on the white balance issue.

--Note: No responsibility can be taken for spelling mistakes, misguided opinions or lack of tact.. http://nighteyes_27.tripod.com/main.htmhttp://community.webshots.com/user/nighteyes_27_http://www.pbase.com/nighteyes_27