Dirty Old Man Posted April 5, 2006 A pic I took off the balcony last night. Would love to go out in a cow field before a storm and take lightning pics with a clump of cubensis in the foreground. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
genki Posted April 5, 2006 i love photos of mother nature going wild, sounds like a great idea for a photo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted April 5, 2006 Great shot dude, how'd u manage that? Long exposure? The best I could come up with, with my digital camera was this. It was completely dark though. These were taken during a summer light show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Old Man Posted April 5, 2006 (edited) Thanks Pretty easy actually. You probably need to use an slr camera though. Most compact digital cameras don't give you enough control. Put the camera on a tripod or a stable surface, use an aperture of around f8 and a shutter speed of around 5 seconds, press the shutter release and hope that lightning strikes while the shutter is open. BTW I like your first shot, what camera did you use? Edited April 5, 2006 by Dom Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted April 5, 2006 Sony DSC-s75 cybershot, with carl zeiss lense. 3.3MP. It does have a setting for nightime photo's with the shutter staying open for upto 10 sec or until it gathers enough light. Most of my photo's were way overexposed. To get these 3 I took close to 100 shots, but thats the joy of digital. I really want cannons digital SLR, that would do the trick nicely. :ph34r: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Old Man Posted April 5, 2006 Sony DSC-s75 cybershot, with carl zeiss lense. 3.3MP. It does have a setting for nightime photo's with the shutter staying open for upto 10 sec or until it gathers enough light. Most of my photo's were way overexposed. To get these 3 I took close to 100 shots, but thats the joy of digital. I really want cannons digital SLR, that would do the trick nicely. :ph34r: Thats a pretty damn good effort for a digital compact camera. I think the problem with most non slr digital cameras in this situation is that they have a small sensor with a limited dynamic range. It took me about 100 shots last night before I got a decent one as well. Any of the current DSLR's are great especially canon and nikon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted April 5, 2006 (edited) Thats a pretty damn good effort for a digital compact camera. I think the problem with most non slr digital cameras in this situation is that they have a small sensor with a limited dynamic range.It took me about 100 shots last night before I got a decent one as well. Any of the current DSLR's are great especially canon and nikon. Thanks dude, atleast I know that taking that many photo's is normal. I don't recommend doing what I did though and go standing on the top of a tin roof, so I could get good pics above the trees. After thought made me realize that prob wasn't the safest place to be standing. I didn't use a tripod either, just held it with a steady hand. I found the hardest thing was predicting when and where the lightning was going to occur. The NT would be a great place to get good lightning pics I imagine. Edited April 5, 2006 by naja naja Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Old Man Posted April 5, 2006 Timing is got be the hardest part unless you are in the tropics and there are heaps of igthning strikes. There is some crazy gadget you can get that trigger the shutter release in a split second when it detects a lightning flash: Lightning Trigger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
botanika Posted April 5, 2006 (edited) Great shot Dom. Lightning shots rock - a split second of mother natures fury and beauty. Here's one I took when I lived in Sydney around 7 years ago... Edited April 5, 2006 by botanika Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
botanika Posted April 5, 2006 And here's some human lightning - the afterburner jet cruising over sydney harbour marking the end of the olympics... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Old Man Posted April 5, 2006 Botanika, those shots are absolute crackers. Nice work! WHat camera and settings? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
botanika Posted April 6, 2006 (edited) Botanika, those shots are absolute crackers.Nice work! WHat camera and settings? An old Olympus OM2 or Canon Eos in those days - I can't remember which one I used. The lightning photo was probably set to around 5-10 seconds exposure during peak lightning activity - its impossible to time lightning strikes - you have to wait until an electrical storm arises that constantly sends down bolts and then open up the shutter and hope. The afterburner shot was taken from cremorne point and exposed for a full 30 seconds probably at F11-16 aperture. I could hear the fighter jet coming down parramatta river and see the fireworks progressing closer to the harbour when I clicked down the shutter to capture this piece of sydney olympic magic. Both were on cheap kodak slide film. Edited April 6, 2006 by botanika Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Old Man Posted April 6, 2006 You've got some real nice photos there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
