This is a frame of a video I shot of a lightning strike tonight. We don't get lightning in the San Francisco Bay Area very often, so this is my first successful capture.
It was recorded from inside the car, with water on the windshield and nearly blind. Two things I am wondering about. 1) How do I do this correctly next time? This looks like a good resource: http://365project.org/discuss/general/9359/lightning-tutorial 2) How could I correct this shot to look better?
it is kinda neat... I don't know if I would change much with the trees and the 'fogging' and the bolt moving across the frame... you could try a tighter crop, but I don't think that would buy you much... maybe a stronger contrast depending on what your likes are...
The easiest way to time the shot effectively is to use a lightning trigger. Google should be able to show you some options.
Otherwise, you can try shooting bursts and maybe you will get lucky. Or you can try long exposures with different settings, but it probably won't be a great result.
@gurry really? Long exposures don't work? I guessed the lighting worked somehow like a flash burst. You set a long exposure and the lighting printed itself on the photo when it happened. Could you explain better why wouldn't it work well?
@gabrielklee It depends on the clouds, and the amount of light that is bouncing off of them and adding to the exposure (possibly from city lights, or even from diffusing a strike of lightning). The more light on the clouds, the brighter the rest of your exposure will become. This means that your lightning, when it finally appears, may not appear in all of its glory.
Think about it. If you set up a 30 second exposure, and your lightning doesn't strike until the 29th second, that means everything will be pretty washed out by that point because you've had 28 seconds of accumulated exposure, and then you get a big burst of lightning. You're right -- the lightning is like a second curtain flash burst, which means if it's not balance with the initial exposure, it's going to burn the image out.
However, instead of using a set exposure length, if you start a bulb, and you're lucky enough to get the lightning in the first few seconds, you can cut the exposure, and you might have a decent shot, because the overall accumulation of the exposure wouldn't be that long, so it might not wash anything out.
It's definitely possible to do either way, but results will vary by situation, skill, and patience. With all that said, I repeat that the easiest way is the use a lightning trigger.
I have shot strings of long exposure shots on nights when the lightening is coming all around us. It has been a matter of luck, but is a quick way to get good P&S shots with lightening. I also tend to stop way down, shut off the flash, avoid street lighting or other sources. Use the self timer to attempt to steady against something. On those nights where it is flashing around us every 10 seconds, it becomes very easy to catch on an 8 second shutter on a dark night.
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Otherwise, you can try shooting bursts and maybe you will get lucky. Or you can try long exposures with different settings, but it probably won't be a great result.
Think about it. If you set up a 30 second exposure, and your lightning doesn't strike until the 29th second, that means everything will be pretty washed out by that point because you've had 28 seconds of accumulated exposure, and then you get a big burst of lightning. You're right -- the lightning is like a second curtain flash burst, which means if it's not balance with the initial exposure, it's going to burn the image out.
However, instead of using a set exposure length, if you start a bulb, and you're lucky enough to get the lightning in the first few seconds, you can cut the exposure, and you might have a decent shot, because the overall accumulation of the exposure wouldn't be that long, so it might not wash anything out.
It's definitely possible to do either way, but results will vary by situation, skill, and patience. With all that said, I repeat that the easiest way is the use a lightning trigger.