request: storm photography

[freybear3]

request: storm photography


how do i photograph storms, lightning?

[RexK_Cozumel]

First thing that you need to do is find a good vantage point to observe the storm. Ideally this is a covered area such as a parking deck. You will also need a tripod and ideally a locking cable release.

Now all you have to do is setup the camera on a tripod and determine the exposure for the scene. If the scene has very little ambient light then just leave that camera in bulb and use the locking cable release to lock the shutter open. Now all you have to do is wait for a lightning bolt or two to enter into your scene. This requires a little luck, but you can also setup some lightning rods if you are in an area where that is possible.

Now if the scene has a lot of ambient light then you will have to meter the scene and determine the exposure time. You can lengthen the amount of time by using a smaller aperture. Just be sure to dont overexpose your image otherwise the lighting bolts will not show up clearly.

Just remember that lightning storms are unpredictable so be sure to take the proper safety precautions.

[drec]

This site has a good tutorial section on shooting storms http://www.weatherscapes.com/techniq...page=lightning
As for me, I have a lot of city lights in my shots so I tend to under expose by about a stop so the bolts don't get blown out. Depending on how close the storm/lightning is will also determine the aperture.

[Thirteen]

Everything these guys are saying is great, I also suggest a graduated filter if you are shooting during the day at all. I took the following shot from my bedroom window. I switched my camera to M, set the shutter on bulb, and used my remote and held the shutter for approximately 3 seconds (I can't find the original file right now to get the EXIF info). I took about 50 shots before I got this one. The reason I say use a graduated filter is because I didn't have one, and I would have helped greatly by allowing me to use a longer shutter speed w/o washing out the houses in the foreground too much.



I really need to find the original, I wanna do a complete re-edit.

[Saralonde]

Naturespixel wrote a tutorial here once, "How to Capture Lightning"

[kencaleno]

ISO lowest
Tripod
cable release,mirror lock-up/remote,/self-timer
Set focus to infinity
Set F-stop to F8
Shutter to bulb
Open shutter for 15 secs to one minute. (Use a black cloth to cover lens between strikes)
Turn off VR/IS
Check exposure on histogram
Include a building,trees or a power pole to give scale to image
Turn on NR to take care of "hot" pixels

Regards, Ken