Images of Canberra - Lightning!

bummer man – I will be waiting all day for a response from him/her.

He/she could have at least logged on at “little lunch”.

Danman, now that school’s gone back, it’s going to be harder for Oedipus_Wrist to attempt to scoff at the points you’ve made … at least until after the last bell rings.

Nice shots Danman.

Umm, Danman, I happen to be a very good photographer. I have 9 lenses and 4 dSLR/35mm SLRs. So I think I know about manual focus, auto focus and bulb setting.

Evidently you have a larger appendage than me as well.

To capture it using your method, he would have had to have known in advance where the lightning would hit, control the brightness of the lightning so as not to over expose depending on is aperture setting and had the tripod ready with his finger on the remote release.

For a so called very good photographer it seems you lack the knowledge of what T and B setting entail.

Manually focus on something in the general area of the activity (set lens to infinity if there is no landmarks to focus on)
Open the shutter – hope for lightning – close the shutter.

Its not a reactionary science – its chance and coincidence.

try F22 bulb setting 100ISO – point camera at electrical activity – at F22 any lightning will burn in CMOS or 35mm – then leave the shutter open (total time) for about 2 to 3 minutes (according to ambient light) to burn the rest of the scenery in.

MY GOD… Steve Pedestrian IS GOD. He knows where lightning will be and can control lightning and a camera at the same time!!! All hail Steve Pedestrian.

Apparently according to you – I have god like powers here here, and here too.

Your comment on looking like the shot in late afternoon also holds no water.

I have done 2 minute exposures around the lake at night with a full moon and they look like daytime.

Colour of sky does not always signify time of day – especially with night photography.

Lightning photography is 90% chance 10% skill.

Gold.

You need good equipment when taking photos of your mum, don’t you, Oedipus_Wrist?

Wow, what you can do with a Carl Zeiss lens, some Sony electronics and a lot of luck. I’m shocked (almost as much as if the lightning had hit me).

Many of us spend several thousand on lenses, camera bodies and high speed film. And you manage this spectacular shot with the camera on auto timer.

No seriously Steve… are you god? With that sought of luck, you should buy a lottery ticket or something.

OK OK I will reveal the so called ‘secret’. I was using a Sony DSC V1 digital camera and there was a thunderstorm in the area (which was at night time) and since the camera was new, I thought I would give it a try as it had a shutter delay feature I’d never used before. So I aimed the camera with a tripod towards the sky and let it go on the maximum delay (30 secs) and the lightning hit just before the delay finished and the outcome is what you see.
A fluke indeed but you play the cards that are dealt to you.

Yes it was a likely a coincidence. But even if Steve had the camera focused at that moment, it appears as though it was late afternoon. In which case, the camera would have had a large aperture in the dimmer afternoon light. If the lightning struck as he was taking the photograph, then the camera would have had to change aperture in a split second, otherwise to much light would have entered though the large aperture and the image would be an over exposed whiteout.

Therefore, it was very impressive that even if he had the camera ready, focused and taking the photo at that split second, that the camera could within that second, shrink the aperture so that the entire photo is perfectly exposed, not over exposed.

There is a photographer by the name of Michael Bath (http://www.lightningphotography.com) who has been taking photos of lightning and storms for twenty years. His are the relatively easy landscapes of lightning over a valley of city. None of his are taken so close to the point of impact.

Steve’s done a great job. Very well done!

I would guess, far more likely, the photo was being taken and the lightning was coincidental.