Maaa, the storms are here.....

[kipper]

I've just spotted some Lightning strikes in Melbourne tonight if anybody is game enough to step outside and take some photos.

[fozzie]

kipper,

I've just spotted some Lightning strikes in Melbourne tonight if anybody is game enough to step outside and take some photos.

We had this action in Adelaide mid/late morning, and then our Office was without power for 3.5 hours. Unfortunatley no camera available.


Cheers,

[birddog114]

We had this action in Adelaide mid/late morning, and then our Office was without power for 3.5 hours. Unfortunatley no camera available

fozzie,
you shouldn't leave it at home.

[christiand]

Hi all,

wen't outside, saw a lightning bolt, then kaboom !!!
No thanks, wen't inside again. Not game enough to get fried.
Here's a photo from the rain.

http://downunder.customer.netspace.net. ... t/rain.jpg

Cheers
CD

[Greg B]

It is going nuts here, big thunder and lightning, and very large hail by Melbourne standards.

[Nicole]

Hmm...not game enough. One summer we were sitting in the courtyard and a storm was coming over the bay. I suggested that we go inside. My father in law and husband thought I was worrying too much. No more than 10 secs after that, the light dimmed right down and then lightning struck. The thunder followed very shortly afterwards and I ran inside with the dogs having had the fright of my life.

Still...hope we get a bit of a storm tonight.

[fozzie]

Hi all,

wen't outside, saw a lightning bolt, then kaboom !!!
No thanks, wen't inside again. Not game enough to get fried.
Here's a photo from the rain.

http://downunder.customer.netspace.net. ... t/rain.jpg

Cheers
CD

I thought Melbourne was like that everday!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Four seasons in one.

[Greg B]

christiand is in Canberra foz.

[Nicole]

Well I can hear the thunder for sure now. Slowly coming...

[digitor]

[quote="fozzie"]
We had this action in Adelaide mid/late morning, and then our Office was without power for 3.5 hours. Unfortunatley no camera available.

Cheers,[/quote]

It was exciting for a while there fozzie, but I had a similar problem. I was at home for lunch when the best storm hit, but today I'd taken my camera to work and left it there! Our power outage was only for a few seconds though.

Cheers

[Greg B]

I'm with you on that Nicole, the lightning and thunder here (SurreyHills) were almost simultaneous. We know what that means. The cat is under the bed, and I probably shouldn't be on the net.

It is a full on storm. There are emergency vehicles going past every few minutes, so I guess stuff is happening.

[Nicole]

Sounds pretty serious. I think they've had golf sized hail in Melton. Same problem here Greg with the dogs going a bit psycho.

[fozzie]

christiand is in Canberra foz.

Sorry Greg: but I hit the wrong 'quote'. But you know what I mean. Tie everything thing down, as it looks like you are in for one hell of a night.

This storm lasted about 2.5/3 hours in Adelaide. Bright sunshine after lunch with a fresh afternoon sea breeze 15-20 knots. This is the Weather Bureau in Adelaide signing out.

[birddog114]

Greg,
Lock you brand new SB-800 in the safe

[Greg B]

No worries fozzie.

Yes, it will be interesting in the morning. The main part of the storm seems to be moving off to the north east from here now.

The cat should emerge about 3 am and sit on my head to show solidarity. Why she doesn't wake Rosanne up I do not understand.

[Greg B]

Greg,
Lock you brand new SB-800 in the safe

Birdie, I love that SB800!!! As Matt and others have noted, the instruction book is a bit difficult to follow, but amazingly, reasonable results are possible with zero knowledge other than the location of the on/off switch

Thanks again.

[Onyx]

Hey digitor - low post count. You're new here right?! Hello and welcome.

As for the storms - no one on D70users might be game enough, but I'm sure the usual 'storm chaser' photographic websites will publish something of the storms either tomorrow or the days following. My sympathy extends to all who have holes in their roof.

[birddog114]

Birdie, I love that SB800!!! As Matt and others have noted, the instruction book is a bit difficult to follow, but amazingly, reasonable results are possible with zero knowledge other than the location of the on/off switch

Greg,
You're better than me, you can find the on/off switch, I can't

[digitor]

Hey digitor - low post count. You're new here right?! ;) Hello and welcome.

Hello Onyx! Yep, I'm new here all right, been lurking for a while - thanks for the welcome.

Cheers

ps So new I have only just now figured out how to make the quoted message bit look right...

[kipper]

Hey Greg, you're right about the storm moving NE. I'm here in Glen Waverley and it travelled parallel to Springvale Rd, and the storm centre seemed to be a good 5-10km from where we were.

I'm a tad annoyed at the results of the photos. I think I took roughly 300-400. I was using the kit lense as the 50mm 1.4D seemed to be not wide enough for that sort of shot. I had the apperture sitting at it's widest F3.5 and the shutter speed fairly low 1/10th to get any sort of image appearing in the shot. Anything above and the shot was just pitch black. Towards the end I tried cranking up the ISO to 1000 to see if that helped but no joy. I heard Raydar is the resident storm chaser here, maybe I'll go probe him as to what is the best means of capturing a lightning strike. We had a few great ones here too

[fozzie]

Where is kipper,

I've just spotted some Lightning strikes in Melbourne tonight if anybody is game enough to step outside and take some photos.

He reported it, come on where are the follwup action shots?

[Onyx]

Heed the advice of the Bureau:

"If you are outdoors, avoid sheltering under trees."

http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDV26400.txt

[digitor]

I had the apperture sitting at it's widest F3.5 and the shutter speed fairly low 1/10th to get any sort of image appearing in the shot. Anything above and the shot was just pitch black.

You've got to be quick to catch a lightning bolt! Most of what you see is a result of your persistence of vision. The recommended method is a fairly small aperture, say f16, use "B", and leave the shutter open until you get a strike or two. Obviously any street lights etc. in the frame will limit the time you can have the shutter open for. As you can't leave the shutter open indefinitely, basically it comes down to taking shot after shot until you get a reasonably exposed looking image with a lightning bolt in it.

Good luck!

[kipper]

I just scrolled through the 300 odd shots that I have and have found 1-3 keepers. One has a small bit of a bolt in it The rest are just flashes that lit up the sky. I also need to de-noise them due ISO 1000 really making it grainy.

[Greg B]

kipper, I haven't attempted lightning shots, but maybe 1-3 out of 300 is a reasonable yield.

All quiet now....

[kurokaze204]

You guys get al the fun! I'm in Newark, New Jersey and there'snothing here but rain, rain, rain. No lightning, no moon, no snow. Just went to Statue of Liberty, totally misted in, all you could see was the legs and ther flame and the 2000 street lamps on the shore made longer exposures impossible. Went up to Hoboken to get the shot of the Manhattan Skyline and all you could see was severly misted, 5-10 storey buildings in the the two western-most streets, the rest in rain and fog. DOH!

I'm gaining a whole new respect for the amount of time landscape photographers must spend to get the shot "just right". I never noticed how much the weather, or even just the time of day can effect colour temperature, ambient light and contrast!

[Nicole]

The weather has been very much like Qld weather of latel. Blame it on my parents visiting as they must have brought it with them. We actually had a big wind gust come through late last night and when I went outside this morning i discovered huge branches from our big tree out front everywhere. Lucky it didn't go through the windows! Hopefully no more of that.

[gstark]

You guys get al the fun! I'm in Newark, New Jersey and there'snothing here but rain, rain, rain.

Just go for a wander back onto Manhattan. Head down towards Delancy St and find a pickle seller and have a couple of half sours for Leigh and me.

[beetleboy]

I've had my fill of lightning for this year thanks..

I was helping the old man clean out some gutters on a client's house on Monday and whilst up the ladder got zapped by lightning! It sent electricity coarsing through my body but luckily I kept my footing on the ladder..climbed down to check that I was still in one piece and have been living with lightning jokes ever since!!

I don't recommend it guys, hurts like hell!

Liam

[Matt. K]

Kipper
No need for ISO 1600 to photograph lightning. ISO 200 F5.6 wide angle lens.

[Matt. K]

Greg B
You have me confused...I thought you WERE the cat! Now I find I am actually talking to the man! Your avatar is very misleading!!!

[Raydar]

I've had my fill of lightning for this year thanks..

I was helping the old man clean out some gutters on a client's house on Monday and whilst up the ladder got zapped by lightning! It sent electricity coarsing through my body but luckily I kept my footing on the ladder..climbed down to check that I was still in one piece and have been living with lightning jokes ever since!!

I don't recommend it guys, hurts like hell!

Liam

On the other side.

I had a similar experience when younger.
Swimming in a dam that was hit by lightning a threw my into a boat I was hanging onto.
That made me intrigued enough to find out how these things work.
Hence my other hobby, storm chasing.
Once you stand in front of a supper cell & take it all in, you come to realize how small we really are.

Cheers
Ray

[Greg B]

Greg B
You have me confused...I thought you WERE the cat! Now I find I am actually talking to the man! Your avatar is very misleading!!!

View thine own avatar Matthew, before ye find mystery in the avatar of another man. For within thine own lurks mysteries deeper than the deepest ocean, larger than the whole of the galaxy.

Either that, or you are a tree. In which case, it is lucky I'm a cat and not a dog.

[Raydar]

Greg B
You have me confused...I thought you WERE the cat! Now I find I am actually talking to the man! Your avatar is very misleading!!!

View thine own avatar Matthew, before ye find mystery in the avatar of another man. For within thine own lurks mysteries deeper than the deepest ocean, larger than the whole of the galaxy.

Either that, or you are a tree. In which case, it is lucky I'm a cat and not a dog.

Or chain saw, Flam thrower, me in an excavator on a bad day

Cheers
Ray

[gstark]

Once you stand in front of a supper cell & take it all in, you come to realize how small we really are.

Isn't that what Disneyland is for?

[gstark]

Once you stand in front of a supper cell & take it all in, you come to realize how small we really are.

Isn't that what Disneyland is for?

Or Westfield?

[Raydar]

Once you stand in front of a supper cell & take it all in, you come to realize how small we really are.

Isn't that what Disneyland is for?

Or Westfield?

Movie world

Cheers
Ray

[sirhc55]

This one is for Radar - enjoy

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=11399229

Cheers

Chris

[Raydar]

Thanks mate

That’s one of our members!!!!!!!

I posted the whole album of Hillsrain on this forum.

He’s been a busy boy HA???

Cheers
Ray

[Matt. K]

Greg
My avatar is accurate. That's how I look in the morning before I shave.