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 05/13/2004 11:24:49 PM · #1
Took these less than an hour ago. Had to share!

(First 7)

Lightning Pics
 05/13/2004 11:26:28 PM · #2
Wow. I wished I had bulb mode :(
 05/13/2004 11:28:06 PM · #3
very nice...I just wish it would storm here :(
 05/13/2004 11:30:32 PM · #4
I love bulb.
just wish we would get some dang rain!!
the largest Sydney dam is near to 50%!!!

who knows how to rain dance?
 05/13/2004 11:34:57 PM · #5
Bulb Mode?
Somebody please fill me in : )
 05/13/2004 11:37:21 PM · #6
Originally posted by Damian:
Bulb Mode?
Somebody please fill me in : )


Just means the "shutter" of the camera stays open for as long as you hold the button. :)

BTW, cool shots!
 05/13/2004 11:38:26 PM · #7
Originally posted by Damian:
Bulb Mode?
Somebody please fill me in : )


Bulb mode is for user controlled shutter speed. The shutter stays open as long as you are pressing the shutter button. Best done with a remote shutter release.
 05/13/2004 11:40:01 PM · #8
Hmmmmm sounds interesting.....thank you for the reply.

You guys and your fancy DSLR's : P
 05/13/2004 11:47:18 PM · #9
Originally posted by Damian:
Hmmmmm sounds interesting.....thank you for the reply.

You guys and your fancy DSLR's : P

Its not all fancy DSLR's, my Casio has the feature. Very handy for those long exposures, indeed.

Awesome shots Jen, Only once have I gotten to shoot lightning, these mountains around here just aren't condusive to shooting them.

edit: ambiguous pronoun reference

Message edited by author 2004-05-13 23:59:37.
 05/13/2004 11:49:24 PM · #10
Very cool! I have a maximum 1/2-second exposure, which makes shooting lightning and fireworks pretty tricky.
 05/14/2004 12:12:35 AM · #11
Great Shots, well done.
 05/14/2004 12:44:37 AM · #12
Great shots! I love #5 & #6 the most. It used to storm in FL, but always with so much rain that I couldn't photograph the lightening. It would be hard to tell where the lightening would be since storms would move so fast too. In Los Angeles, I have only seen lightening once, and it was exactly 1 time during a quick 15 minute storm. I've been here 9 months now.
 05/14/2004 01:16:06 AM · #13
I can see why you wanted to share! Very cool shots....I especially like number 5. Looks like an awesome storm. Were you taking these from your home, or did you go out in that mess?
 05/14/2004 07:20:20 AM · #14
I'm with Judy. #5 is the best. Great captures.
 05/14/2004 08:04:30 AM · #15
Those ae sensational, I love 1 & 5 the best I think.

I tried some lightning shots 6 months back, got some decent ones, but nothing as good as these.

What's the trick?

I notice you used ISO 100 for instance. I think I went to 1600, thinking along the lines of "low light so need high ISO" ... is 100 better as you can have a slower shutter speed?

Any tricks you can share, as we have the bestest storms here in summer :)
 05/14/2004 11:06:51 PM · #16
Thanks so much for all of your comments! I'm glad you enjoyed them.
 05/14/2004 11:08:36 PM · #17
Originally posted by jpochard:
I can see why you wanted to share! Very cool shots....I especially like number 5. Looks like an awesome storm. Were you taking these from your home, or did you go out in that mess?


Judy, I started off out in the lawn but when it got close I went under the patio. Not that it made any real difference...but I did feel better about it. A false sense of security I suppose!
05/14/2004 11:23:21 PM · #18
Originally posted by Natator:
Those ae sensational, I love 1 & 5 the best I think.

I tried some lightning shots 6 months back, got some decent ones, but nothing as good as these.

What's the trick?

I notice you used ISO 100 for instance. I think I went to 1600, thinking along the lines of "low light so need high ISO" ... is 100 better as you can have a slower shutter speed?

Any tricks you can share, as we have the bestest storms here in summer :)


Hi, Simon. Thanks so much.

I'll be completely honest... This is my first SLR camera and I've only had it since February. I'm still learning what different settings do. Most of what I do right now is trial and error. I think this was only my second (perhaps third) attempt at lightning. The first time I used a film camera set at 30sec with 800 speed film. It's all that I had. I went through 2 rolls of film pretty quickly and the only shots I got were those posted after the newest ones. Not very good.

This time it was easier because of having converted to digital. I used the shutter priority and set it for 15sec. I started off at ISO 200 but then changed down to 100. My thinking is that the lower ISO works better because while it's dark out the lightning is an incredibly bright burst of light. There's more than enough light in a bolt to be recorded. I found with the 800 speed film that when there was the slightest flicker of light (not even a bolt) it was recorded and I wound up with a glowing sky and the lawn and everything else lit up as well. Not to mention grain. I used my wide angle lens (28-90mm) at 28mm and aimed towards the action. Then, just be patient. If you keep moving the camera you'll never catch anything. I did that for awhile. I would see good lightning in the other direction, move the camera, and then miss something really nice where I was just pointing. Frustrating!

Luckily last night's storm had lots of good lightning, little thunder and no rain. Well, there was rain - I could see it about a mile away, but it never came here. My camera stayed dry. The other thing I have on my side is that I live on top of a large hill looking out across the valley.

Good luck, Simon. You'll definitely have to give it another shot. I would love to see your results!

~ Jen ~
 05/14/2004 11:59:58 PM · #19
Does the 300D have a bulb mode?

Number 1 is great, definitely would have won the Centered contest!
 05/15/2004 12:16:54 AM · #20
great shots...my favs are # 1 and #5...very nice!!!!

James
 05/15/2004 03:29:52 AM · #21
Very cool shots.

I'm always jealous when I see great shots like this, because I can't take them.

For two reasons:

1) There is never lightening here.
2) Even if there were, they'd come out bad.
 05/15/2004 10:20:17 PM · #22
Originally posted by ButterflySis:

Good luck, Simon. You'll definitely have to give it another shot. I would love to see your results!

~ Jen ~


Thanks, I'll definitely give it another go when we get back into the amazing storm season here. I'll definitely try at 100 ISO as with hindsight I completely agree there with your reasoning, and it explains why a lot of mine didn't work.

Thanks :)
 05/15/2004 10:21:39 PM · #23
Absolutely love those!!! Nicely done!
 05/15/2004 10:27:39 PM · #24
I have concluded that I have the patience of a jujubee.

This is not good when trying to photograph lightning. So hats off to all you who can actually sit there and get those great weather shots.

Clara- and I just missed a killer cloud burst.
05/15/2004 10:28:41 PM · #25
Originally posted by blemt:
I have concluded that I have the patience of a jujubee.


ROFL!!! Now that is funny stuff! I would say I have the attention span and patience of a potato chip myself.
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