Photographing Thunderstorms

[FL1X]

Is difficult but i did manage it....
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/37038924/

What do you think>?

[Culture]

Nice shot :) Obviously problems with camera shake as i guess you didn't use a tripod...
I do like the actual lightning you have taken looks very nice.

Generally though you need a tripod, a long exposure and either a slow or fast film (yet to decide) and an appropriate aperture (in conjunction with film speed - sitll haven't worked this out).
Also a good backdrop (or lack of one) with low light sources to illuminate the scenery but yet not flood it while you have your long exposure open to capture the forks of lightning.

Overall i had some success in africa with this (where there is bugger all scenery lighting other than the moon) and i could leave the lens open for ages and the "action" was some way off. In this country its tough.....

</ramble>

[LozB]

nice pic. ive tried this and its more luck than judgement to get a decent shot of the lightning

[Neon]

Pro -> http://stormguy.com/site/

[Zenith]

VERY nice pic. Well captured. :)

It reminded me that I'm going to be looking at some HDR landscape photography soon. I just need to get a tripod to steady the camera while I take the multiple images required.

[TimmyNoShoes]

VERY nice pic. Well captured. :)

It reminded me that I'm going to be looking at some HDR landscape photography soon. I just need to get a tripod to steady the camera while I take the multiple images required.

Manfrotto ftw :P

[Mingtea]

Nice shot :) Obviously problems with camera shake as i guess you didn't use a tripod...
I do like the actual lightning you have taken looks very nice.

Generally though you need a tripod, a long exposure and either a slow or fast film (yet to decide) and an appropriate aperture (in conjunction with film speed - sitll haven't worked this out).
Also a good backdrop (or lack of one) with low light sources to illuminate the scenery but yet not flood it while you have your long exposure open to capture the forks of lightning.

Overall i had some success in africa with this (where there is bugger all scenery lighting other than the moon) and i could leave the lens open for ages and the "action" was some way off. In this country its tough.....

Also flix, you did a fantastic job with the blur considering you hand held it, well done!

</ramble>

Thinking about it from a digital point of view i'd be going for a low ISO but a long shutter speed tripod and remote shutter control. Low ISO because i'd be wanting as little noise as possible to get some real clarity in the lightning and just let it set the picture alive.

I agree with you about the scenery problems the last thing i'd want in a lighting picture are masses of burnt highlights from city lighting, however I would like to experiment with a striking composition of a road at night with the lighting in the background.

hmmm, so much to do, so little summer left, however I am going to florida in the height of hurricane season ;)

[KingDaveRa]

If you have a noise reduction filter, like my wubly camera (http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/dslr_E-500.htm), ISO noise isn't a problem :D

I don't think you need to use a massively long exposure - a second or two is plenty... perhaps a little long, as you run the risk of just over-exposing the whole shot. From what I've read, it's a case of suck it and see. Take LOTS of shots and you're going to get something. I don't think there's an exact science to it, it's more luck than judgement!

[Cabe]

I use the black frame technique, you shoot one frame with the lens cap on, and subtract that from every shot to minimise the noise even further.

[Zenith]

That's the same thing for telescope CCD imagers as well.
They take multiple images through each of the red, green and blue channels, and finally a black one with the lenscap on.
Keith's Image Stacker is one of the most well known image stackers [ http://www.cs.unm.edu/~kwiley/software/keithsImageStacker.html ]
Give the site a visit and you'll see what I mean about how it works.

[KingDaveRa]

I use the black frame technique, you shoot one frame with the lens cap on, and subtract that from every shot to minimise the noise even further.

Mine does that automagically. I takes a shot with the shutter closed, then one with it open, and works out the difference. I had a play with it doing a REALLY long exposure (some rediculous amount of time - the highest it would do) pointing at the moon, with the noise reduction on. It wasn't bad - it resulting in a nice smooth image, although odd pixels of different colours. I wonder if that's something to do with the CCD picking up something else. Anyway, here's the piccie:

www.davidrickard.net/P6030106.JPG (http://www.davidrickard.net/P6030106.JPG) - 4Mb by the way!

[Elbonio]

good stuff.

set as wallpaper :)


One of my ambitions is to take 6 months out to go storm chasing in the states and get some good pictures.