Cloud Lightning

[Dazyl]

I read the blogpost on Lightning Photography a couple of weeks ago, and have been anxious to try ever since. Unfortunately, the real action (cloud to ground) happened while I was driving, but I went ahead and shot the cloud lightning when I got home, to see what would happen.



(I have another, also on Flickr, here.)

Not sure I've done the best I could have with this. They seem really cool to me, but that could just be because I was so amazed that they came out at all.

Any thoughts or feedback?

[photofixation]

I like your attempt. Please share how you setup the shot.

[Dazyl]

photofixation -- generally speaking, all I did was set the shutterspeed to "bulb", mount on a tripod, back out as far as my lens would go, and expose until something happened.

The shots themselves varied in exposure time. Some of them (like the one in this thread) were fairly short -- between 2 and 4 seconds. Others (not posted to Flickr yet) were as long as 8 or 9 seconds.

One of the things this exercise taught me was that in this, like everything else, conditions are variable. Last night, for instance, the lower clouds were moving fairly quickly across the sky, and they were an odd reddish color. So longer exposures aren't as crisp because the clouds ghosted, and they were very red.

There were some things I did wrong... like not set the ISO to a lower sensitivity. I was at 400 (no good reason for this), and I had a fair amount of noise. These two shots have gone through a noise-reduction filter.

Next time I try it, I'll not only be at ISO200 (my camera's lowest setting), I'll vary the aperture settings. These were nearly wide-open.

[photofixation]

Originally Posted by Dazyl

generally speaking, all I did was set the shutterspeed to "bulb", mount on a tripod

Bulb can be used with remote only ?
I have D40

[Dazyl]

Not sure about D40, but on my D50, I don't need a remote (and I haven't bought one yet, though I need to...) So I triggered the shot directly, and the shutter stayed open until I lifted my finger.

I'd have been a lot more confident about the steadiness of the shot with a remote, though.

[mikeandsouth]

Youi can use bulb on a D40 without a remote, when you're on shutter speed, just keep scrolling the wheel all the way to the left untill it says bulb. I was messing around with that for the first time last night, lol! I'm off to have a go at taking a picture of a waterfall now...

[photofixation]

Originally Posted by mikeandsouth

Youi can use bulb on a D40 without a remote, when you're on shutter speed, just keep scrolling the wheel all the way to the left untill it says bulb. I was messing around with that for the first time last night, lol! I'm off to have a go at taking a picture of a waterfall now...

Sorry I did not put it in right way.
I mean there is no other way then to just keep the button pressed. If I need it for 5 mins. It will be quite difficult and there may be a chance of a shake.

[Dazyl]

Ah! Sorry for misunderstanding your question.

Yes, "bulb" can (and probably should) be done with a remote. I did a quick search here on DPS for "bulb remote", and turned up this relevant-looking thread. The original post was specific to the D50, but the applicability is pretty universal I think.

D50 Infinite Shutter (bulb)

[mikeandsouth]

Ah sorry, the manual says that you have to keep it pressed. With a remote, once you press the button, you can take ya finger off and the shutter will stay open for 30mins unless you press it again before.