Lightning I

Posted: July 27, 2009 
Filed under: Nature
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Storm photography is definitely wrought with its own difficulties and dangers.  To begin with, you usually want to set your ISO to 400 or so, something fast that can react quickly to light.  You will also want a cable release for your camera, which on the Nikon D200 and most likely other models plugs into the front of the camera (just don’t lose the rubber stops that cover these plugs, because they’re your water-proofing!).  For this shot, because the new digitals are not as prone to be built with a “B” setting for shutter speed – meaning you can just hold the shutter release down for as long as you want – you will have to try for different shutter speeds.  The decision for what period of time is good is dependant on the frequency of lightning strikes in the storm you are trying to document.  For this photo, I was using 10s shutter openings and I found it to be a good setting for this storm.  Now, the other thing you need to do is open your aperture up as wide as you can.  In a storm, the skyline is totally black because of the thick cloudcover and the fact that it is night (that’s a bit of a no-brainer, I suppose).  This means that the only light exposing your image is the lightning, so you can technically hold it open for a long time if there is no lightning strikes.  However, too many strikes during one exposure, and you will see that all you’ve captured is an obscured white frame with no actual discernable strand of lightning.  So, what you want is to find a shutter speed (or length of time, if using a film camera, determined by how many strikes have occured while the shutter was released) that will allow for 1 big strike, 2 mediums, 3 smalls, etc.  If you are looking for a shot that has many lightning strikes in order for it to look crazy wild, then close the aperture slightly by increasing your f-stop.  Careful, though!  If your aperture is too small, then each strand will be nothing more than a tiny line on your composition.  You can boost up exposure in photoshop if need be, but a lost shot is still going to be a lost shot, regardless of photoshops composition saving abilities.  The other things to be careful for: a) don’t get struck by lightning! b) don’t let too much rain splatter your lens, for it will obscure the shot, c) don’t let your camera tip over in the wind, d) don’t let your camera move one micrometre as long as your shutter is open, meaning never press the shutter release down with your actual finger, and always use a cable release, e) play with settings until you find what works best in the unique storm you are trying to document!  It’s all about intuition and adapting to the situation.