Lightning photos

[hunter4life]

We have been getting some good lightning storms here in SE NM. Here are a few photos from outside my house. These are the first 2 storms I have tried photographing and I am still trying to perfect my technique. The first storm I was eaten alive by all the mosquitoes. Enjoy.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Nice photos---looks like you are getting hammered.

Randy

 

[colonel00]

Very cool. The first two are awesome. I would love to try this sometime. Any tips on camera settings and technique?

 

[realunlucky]

Triple strike is dang cool. Thanks for sharing

 

[justin davis]

Cool pics! Lighting is badass!

 

[Lukem]

Very cool h4l!

I'll add a couple from this week if you don't mind.

Unfortunately this one was out of focus:

Very cool. The first two are awesome. I would love to try this sometime. Any tips on camera settings and technique?

Go Manual and open the aperture all the way up (low #) and start playing with your shutter speed and ISO to get things right. If things are a little too washed out, tighten up the aperture. It takes playing with it to get the feel of what those settings need to be. It's a ton of fun.

 

[Muledeernv]

Cool pic always like lightning when I am not in the middle of it on a tent.thanks for sharing

 

[Trr15]

Awesome pics guys. We've had some crazy storms here over the past week. Might try to take some photos myself if it keeps up.

 

[Buster]

Lukem, absolutely amazing last photo.

 

[hunter4life]

Great photos Lukem. Anyone can feel free to add some to the thread.

I am still getting the settings down. I have a Panasonic Lumix FZ100. For the night shots I am shooting off a tripod in shutter priority mode and setting it to a 3 second exposure, manual focus on infinity, and taking the exposure compensation to about -1. It is still washing out when the strikes are really bright. I am thinking of going to full manual and playing with the aperture and taking the ISO down lower. It was on 200 for these shots. I am no expert at photography, but thought this would be fun. There are such things as lightning triggers, but I don't have one and what I am doing can be done with just about any camera.

 

[colonel00]

Thanks for the tips. I remember watching a video way back when with some tips as well but I just haven't gotten out to take some photos. One thing I seem to remember from the video is that the guy would basically set the shutter at 30 seconds or longer. As long as there weren't any moving lights in front of you, it would only catch the lightning. Once the lightning struck, he would cover the lens with his hand or a piece of paper to prevent any further light intake. Essentially this allows you to get the shots without having to be quick on the shutter button. Looks like we have some storms brewing so maybe I can get out later once it gets dark.