Lightening

[Ann de-Gay]

Hi there. I am travelling to the US in September visting the National Parks and Canyons. I am fascinated by thunderstorms and am hoping that there may be one or two while I'm there.I would really like to get some shots of lightening. I have a Canon EOS400D. I will be taking my tripod and have just ordered a remote shutter release. All I need now is some advice in terms that a child could understand.
Annie.

[idcrewdawg]

Put your camera in Aperture Priority mode, and set your aperture as wide as you can. Let the camera set the time, unless you're shooting during the day. Then it's a bit more difficult. Set your focus to infinity, and release the shutter. If you don't have a cable, utilize the self timer to avoid the shake that happens when you press the button.

Your vantage point should be one that allows you to view the storm, but not expose yourself to the lightening. So keep that in mind when setting up the shot. Generally if you can hear the thunder, you can be hit by the lightening. Not always, but it's a good thing to keep in mind.

[Elmo]

At night lightening strikes will always be over exposed. Shooting with a wide f-stop yields wide lightening flashes as it over exposes a wider area on sensor. A smaller f-stop yields more distinct flashes. Also using smaller f-stop will allow you to possibly capture more strikes on a single frame. In Av mode set exp-comp to minus 2 or lower to retain night time look

For day time use low ISO and small f-stop, take lots of shots and hope you get good strikes.

[Ann de-Gay]

Thanks for your advice. I have looked at your lightening shots and am wondering if I will ever achieve anything that good!
I don't think my travel insurance will cover a lightening strike so I will be careful.
Annie

[Fen]

Originally Posted by Ann de-Gay

I don't think my travel insurance will cover a lightning strike so I will be careful.

Don't worry about that... I've been struck twice so far. Hurts like hell and puts you in hospital for a few days, but gives you a good story to tell

[kernix]

Yeah, I agree with using a longer exposure to get more than one lighning strike - you can use the approach for shooting fireworks - set to bulb or something long and use black felt or black construction paper, and cover the lens while not shooting - then remove it when you 1st see the lightning, or when you know the frequency of thunder-to-lightning strike, anticipate when the strike will appear - remove the paper from in front of the lens, get that strike, repeat or set up for your next shot.

Try and shoot from a porch or balcony some distance from the lighning though - you want to live to shoot another day.

[jagoble25]

Originally Posted by Elmo

At night lightening strikes will always be over exposed. Shooting with a wide f-stop yields wide lightening flashes as it over exposes a wider area on sensor. A smaller f-stop yields more distinct flashes. Also using smaller f-stop will allow you to possibly capture more strikes on a single frame. In Av mode set exp-comp to minus 2 or lower to retain night time look

For day time use low ISO and small f-stop, take lots of shots and hope you get good strikes.

That's cool I never thought about adjusting the exp-comp to get a better night time look. I always shoot mine in manual with f stops around 9 to 13 and exposure time usually at 30sec due to the fact my cable release for my old D80 will not work on my new D90. This is currently my favorite thing to shoot and I did get luck the other week and get one of my shots printed on the front page of our small town paper. Not the best shots but you can check them and the EXIF out on my Flickr. Good luck with you shots and trip, be sure to post some shots!

[jagoble25]

Originally Posted by Fen

Don't worry about that... I've been struck twice so far. Hurts like hell and puts you in hospital for a few days, but gives you a good story to tell

LMAO !!!! This reminds me of the old dude in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

[its_tim]

How To Photograph Lightning

Use a steady surface
Long Shutter Times
Horizon Up
But Include Something Interesting
Manual Focus
Manual Shutter/Aperture Too

[EmigrantChris]

I've had the best luck with a smaller aperture. Have it wide open will yield shots where the lightning is overexposed, and won't show much detail.

You can get some great shots during the day and night. For daytime shooting, I would shoot at the lowest ISO possible, and have an ND filter. Put the camera in continuous mode, and fire away, shot after shot. Try to use a remote shutter release if you can, during the daytime any small movement will be visible in your shot. If you wait to see the lightning before you try to release the shutter, you will miss it. Also, shoot at a pretty wide focal length if you can, it will be easier to crop out what you don't want later than trying to get the lightning composed the way you want it in the camera.

Feel free to look at the exif information of these two shots (Click on the link to go to the flickr properties page for each). Good luck, post any results that you get.


.4"@f16 with 3 stop ND filter


94"@f11