First go at lightning.

[xerubus]

Okay... here's my first go at capturing lightning. Been reading a few books since and will try to get better shots next time. Would really appreciate some input as to techniques which you find work when capturing lightning.

http://www.nikonaustralia.com/gallery/L ... g_overhead
http://www.nikonaustralia.com/gallery/L ... ane_summer
http://www.nikonaustralia.com/gallery/L ... _touchdown

cheers

[phillipb]

Hi Xerebus, your technique works, nice shots, the trick now is to try and get the lightning with interesting foregrounds. Easier said then done. That's why I admire some of the really good lightning shots you see around. They must be very dedicated or extremely lucky, I suspect it's the former.

[xerubus]

thanks for the comments.

unfortunately i was standing under my patio and there was absolutely nothing interesting at ground level. Thinking about heading to the water when the next evening storm comes through.

[phillipb]

You're on the right track, that's what I mean by dedication, you wouldn't see me going out in one of those storms

[BBJ]

Hey xerubus top shots, i was waiting the other day when we had storms here in SA, but got a lot of thunder and rain but didn't see much lightning so yes good catch.
Cheers
John
BBJ

[Nicole]

I haven't tried photographing lighting myself yet. I think your first shots are pretty impressive.

[xerubus]

thanks bbj... we had a storm come through today, but unfortunately couldn't get any lightning...

thanks nicole... it's actually quite exciting trying to capture.. definitely worth a try...

[Greg B]

They are great xerebus. Even better considering they are your first go at it, that is excellent.

I haven't been game to try yet - in Melbourne we don't often get lightning without rain which complicates matters a bit, or maybe I am just making pathetic excuses

Anyway, well done.

[Raydar]

Going great mate

One good place is the beach with the storm out to sea.
An open paddock is another with some type of structure or trees to give a sense of scale.

Great job

Cheers
Ray

[xerubus]

thanks greg b... sounds like an excuse to me

thanks raydar... now time to think about where to drive when the storms are coming...

[Killakoala]

Well done Xerubus. But please allow me to make an observation.

The photos seem a bit grainy in the part of the frame you have light pollution from streetlights (the orange glow).

I assume you used a high ISO. (Forgive me if i am wrong and it's a result of JPEG artefacts). As lightning is extremely bright, you should use as low an ISO as possible to give you two benefits, longer shutter speeds and less intense light pollution from ground source lights, also the lightning bolt will not 'burn' itself on your image as it has in your first two images. The last one is almost perfect.

But a suberb effort, I am very impressed. I love lightning shots and it takes a brave soul to shoot them. I take my hat off to you.

Well done

[xerubus]

hi killakoala... and thanks for the input...

i used iso 200... haven't ever bothered changing iso. the grain is definitely just jpg artefacts... and the fact that my life change to shoot in only raw was a couple of days after the lightning shots..

i just need more practice... and it's a good time of the year to be doing it..

[Vicareyus]

Nice shots xerubus. You've inspired me to give it a go next storm...
Vic

[Glen]

Very nice Xerebus, would imagine it took some work to get those.

[xerubus]

thanks vic.. it's nice to get inspiration..

thankyou glen... it wasn't too hard, just took time. i simply setup my tripod... set my lens to infinity... and left the shutter open until i caught what i want.

I was given a good tip last night from a photographer which someone else may find useful here. If you are leaving the shutter open for quite a while, hold some black card etc up to the lens while the shutter is open. pull the card away when you can see the lightning coming and then return the card after the lightning. This stops the constant stream of light from street lights etc coming in, and enables you to leave the shutter open longer to get multiple shots of lightning in the same frame. I'm yet to try this technique, but it sounds interesting.

[Glen]

Xerebus, interesting tip, makes sense, now all I need is some lightning and my camera back from Maxwells

[phillipb]

I don't know how much difference it makes, but they say you should also put the eyepiece blind on to stop any light coming in from there.

[Manta]

I don't know how much difference it makes, but they say you should also put the eyepiece blind on to stop any light coming in from there.

Nice shots Xerubus, from a fellow Brisbanite who loves a good electrical show. I've only recently joined the swelling ranks of D70 owners and have played around with some moon and star-trail shots but my techniques are very much at the 'prototype' stage .

Further to phillipb's comments, I always have my eyepiece blind clipped onto my strap (along with my remote control in its case) so have already developed the habit of popping it on for long exposures. The card over the lens makes a lot of sense and I will be trying that next time, along with setting the Long Exposure NR to 'on' which I haven't done yet.

Having just become a RAW fan, I expect to see some improvement in my shots when I take on board the tips given in this thread.

Keep up the good work and I expect this summer is going to give us both plenty of opportunity to experiment!

Cheers,
Simon.

[xerubus]

thankyou for the kind words simon.

Just one thing, and I'd like to hear your experience.. I find NR actually messes around with the shot too much and yields poor results.

[Manta]

I find NR actually messes around with the shot too much and yields poor results.

Okay... hadn't heard that. I guess I'll treat it like everything else and just 'suck it and see'.
I'll keep you posted.