Lightning

[ElenaG]

How do people get the great shots of lightning arcing across the sky or down to the ground?

Is it just luck? or is there an actual technique?

The last time there was a thunderstorm there was so much lightning (far more than usual) I just stood there and clicked constantly until it got too dark. Got lucky twice (in over 550 shots).

I'll admit I'm still using my camera entirely on automatic (too intimidated to try otherwise just yet)

[stitchbug]

http://www.lightningtrigger.com/

[RexK_Cozumel]

shoot in manual. Use a long shutter speed. stop down the aperture or use a ND filter if you have to. Anyways just open the shutter and wait for the lighting to strike. easy peasy. You can get light triggers and what not but the old fashioned way works as well.

[ElenaG]

Thanks.

I'm definitely going to have to learn to use the camera fully. Just don't know when (or really, where to start).

[RexK_Cozumel]

Pick up a copy of Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. and then move your camera to manual mode and practice. It really is not too difficult but you do have to practice.

[ElenaG]

Thanks for the rec. That shelf of photography books in the store is again, rather confusing. This is one that's good for any camera? So many of them are geared towards the Nikon or the Cannon camera, and mine's an Olympus.

[chrisnason]

I built a light trigger ( modified design from internet ) for about £5 of parts.
I cut the cable of my manual remote (Canon 20D) inserting an inline 2.5mm jack plug and socket. I also made an extension cable.
I have only been able to try it out in one storm so far but I managed to capture 4 lightning strikes in 12 shots about 30% success rate.
So I have my original length remote cable an extra 2 metre extension and an easy connection for the light trigger.

[jgomez65]

Originally Posted by chrisnason

I built a light trigger ( modified design from internet ) for about £5 of parts.
I cut the cable of my manual remote (Canon 20D) inserting an inline 2.5mm jack plug and socket. I also made an extension cable.
I have only been able to try it out in one storm so far but I managed to capture 4 lightning strikes in 12 shots about 30% success rate.
So I have my original length remote cable an extra 2 metre extension and an easy connection for the light trigger.

Can you post a link to the design/manual?, it sounds like a good project

[Scooba_Steve]

Originally Posted by chrisnason

I built a light trigger ( modified design from internet ) for about £5 of parts.
I cut the cable of my manual remote (Canon 20D) inserting an inline 2.5mm jack plug and socket. I also made an extension cable.
I have only been able to try it out in one storm so far but I managed to capture 4 lightning strikes in 12 shots about 30% success rate.
So I have my original length remote cable an extra 2 metre extension and an easy connection for the light trigger.

I would also be interested in a link for this project... it would be well worth the effort.

[chrisnason]

The web page circuit was very complicated with high pass filters etc. but it showed me that idea worked. It dated from film times so wasted shots were expensive!
I thought I would experiment with odd spares I had, only needing to buy the phototransistor from Maplins £1.80?
The phototransistor was rubber sleeved on it's sides and rear then just hand pointed in the storm direction, I found a trigger resistor of 4M7 was about correct for the light that evening. The phototransistor could be attached to the view finder. As we don't get many storms here in Sussex England I've only had one chance to experiment.
The 1uF cap closes the relay for about 1 sec so it could be reduced to a much lower value but it worked and it was easy to see the monitor LED going out, when the relay closes.
In the next storm I will try continuous shooting mode, a 1 sec burst of shots might be interesting. I believe a single flash can last 0.3 sec.
I used a wide angle lens with the camera in full manual mode F5 (fastest), ISO800 and around 1/20 sec. manual focus. This gave good fine detail in the lightning and only over exposed in one of the 4 successful shots.
Mirror lock-up mode would improve the response even further - I need more storms to experiment with!
It seems difficult / expensive to get a plug for the external shutter connector on my Canon 20D which is why I modified my cable.
The other 3 photos attached