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samboardman — Lightening
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Published: 2010-01-21 17:12:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 6318; Favourites: 212; Downloads: 1095
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Description
Lightening storm in Magaliesburg, South Africa.Taken by setting the camera for multiple shots and holding down the shutter while hoping very hard. Normally it would only strike while i was busy deleting the hundreds of missed shots
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Comments: 31
I'm so JEALOUS!!! I've been trying to take bolt photos with a cell phone...
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amazing shot!
i know that it is very hard to photograph lighteningxD
may i use this as stock in a photomanip and post it on ponybox.com?
i will credit you on the pic and link back
thanx
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Perfect timing and a lot of luck, I love lightning photography
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Glad you enjoyed this one, thanks
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I don't have the patience for that. Great shot!
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It was impressive just sitting and watching, the camera was an extra mainly. I do admit to almost giving up having to delete 100s of pictures one by one, that was a bit annoying... Thanks though!
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Me too! There are so many great shots of lightening here around dA. Its extra special when you manage to get one yourself though
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I have horrible luck, so I'd never catch lightning on camera
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Thank you for your kind comment, it's always appreciated and very encouraging to hear
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It's realy hard work
+7
I did it by video, 24 snap/sec.,but their resolution was bad (
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Yes it is hard work. It ccan be fun doing it though, even if you dont get the perfect result at the end. My camera can only burst about 1.5 frames a second, but you've given me an idea if i ever need to repeat this i can try lowering the filesize see if that helps my frame rate.
With the advice of SmallCraig below, i have bought myself a pair of very cheap ebay filters, just to experiment with. They reduce the light and thus allow longer exposure and a bigger chance therefore to 'hit' at the right time. Now i just need another lightening storm.
Thank you for the comment and good luck for your next time also!
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O.K., this is the link with the lightning, that I snaped by video [link]
Thank you for the interesting information!
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This is really good, but it sounds like you've been using a fair bit of "hit and miss". You can get a better chance of hits by using this technique:
1. Use a small aperture (you've done that anyway, by the look of the EXIF);
2. Set your shutter speed to "B" or "bulb";
3. Use a remote shutter release, open the shutter, and lock it there;
4. If it's really dark, and there are lots of lightning flashes, leave the shutter open for as long as you like - only the bright flashes will be recorded;
5. When you have captured enough flashes, close the shutter.
If you can only shoot in brigther light, try a ND filter to ensure that you can keep the shutter open long enough to get some good flashes (or even just one, if that's what you're aiming for).
You've done a really good job here, but using the above steps will be less frustrating for you, guaranteed.
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Thank you for taking the time to offer your advice and kind encouragement. It is very much appreciated.
At the time 1/3 second exposure was about the longest i could do because of both balancing the camera and it was not quite this dark. The original is actually quite hard to see the lightening but i have slightly darkened the photo more recently as i've begun to learn that a little change on a 'Histogram' can really make a difference.
When i took this i hadnt got a tripod or a remote release. Now i have both but, of course, there is no sign of any lightening for me to try them on
Finally, thank you for saying about the ND Filter, i have read about them (<3 Wikipedia) and may try and get myself one for the future.
- Sam
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You're very welcome! It's a great pleasure to try and offer advice if I can.
Ah, I understand your problem. I forgot to mention the tripod - stupid me! - but of course, now that you have all your equipment, the weather won't co-operate!
ND filters can be quite expensive, so be prepared!
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I've tried catching lighting on continuous shot like that and the same thing happens to me-- missing it when you're trying to delete all the empty sky pictures. It looks like you've had better luck than me though. 
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