Anbody other than Dustin (Dont you do that for a living?) shoot lighting?
How do you set your camera up? We have some great stuff going on tonight and I would love to shoot it.
Lighting
Unless of course you use a 1 iron because even God can't hit a 1 ironTree-Bone wrote:use a wide angle lens, set it on BULB shutter speed, hold camera in right hand pointin up, Hold metal golf club in left hand as high into air as possible. When lightning hits the club it will fire the camera.
"I want to help the helpless, but I don't give a damn about the clueless anymore!
My last friend turns against meTree-Bone wrote:use a wide angle lens, set it on BULB shutter speed, hold camera in right hand pointin up, Hold metal golf club in left hand as high into air as possible. When lightning hits the club it will fire the camera.
Hey Flats, I can hit a 1 iron.
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Bill, the few times I managed to get a halfway decent shot, I had the camera on the tripod, used the widest lens on Shutter priority mode. Play around with the shutter speed, depending on the amount of lightning i have gone as high as 10 seconds or more. I would use the remote to keep firing for a minute or two, then see what I caught.
Kevin
"Am I missing and eyebrow?" - Adam Savage
"Am I missing and eyebrow?" - Adam Savage
Careful HC3, thats borderline bad attitiude. It'll get you kicked out.teamshaft3 wrote:Some folks just can't catch a clue eh Rik.Rik wrote:Dustin has some very good shots of lightning. Have never seen his shots of lighting, though.
"Anytime I shag a buddies wife I always cut the lawn when I'm done " ~ The Leg End ~
Here is the "word" right out of the Nikon School Handbook for exposures. (Pretty much what Dustin said.)
First, set up camera, mounted on tripod, with wide angle lens. Make sure it is not pointed at some light source that will screw up the exposure.
Since I know Bill's camera has 200 ASA/ISO film speed, set the lens between f5.6 -f 11.
There are 2 options for shutter speed:
1) IF you have a remote cable release set the camera on Bulb. The shutter will stay open as long as you hold the button down. Because you can hold it open for any length of time, i would favor the f11 range. You can also capture more than one lightning strike. (Works for fireworks too.)
2) If you don't have a remote release, set shutter speed to anywhere from 1 to several minutes and shoot in the f5.6 range. (Dustin opens his lens more (f3.5) that Nikon says and gets good results.
if this fails go back to the golf club technique. But remember, you only get one chance.
First, set up camera, mounted on tripod, with wide angle lens. Make sure it is not pointed at some light source that will screw up the exposure.
Since I know Bill's camera has 200 ASA/ISO film speed, set the lens between f5.6 -f 11.
There are 2 options for shutter speed:
1) IF you have a remote cable release set the camera on Bulb. The shutter will stay open as long as you hold the button down. Because you can hold it open for any length of time, i would favor the f11 range. You can also capture more than one lightning strike. (Works for fireworks too.)
2) If you don't have a remote release, set shutter speed to anywhere from 1 to several minutes and shoot in the f5.6 range. (Dustin opens his lens more (f3.5) that Nikon says and gets good results.
if this fails go back to the golf club technique. But remember, you only get one chance.
I've found there are numerous techniques for shooting natural lightning depending on what you're trying to image. I prefer to shoot with a wider aperture in order to capture more of the fine luminous detail from small branches and streamers, realizing that I'll sometimes saturate the sensor on the main lightning channel. Unless the storm is very close, you'll lose alot of fine structure by stopping down. At work, we often shoot as wide as F/1.4 with our high-speed cameras (up to 1 million frames/sec) in order to capture filamentary details that would be completely invisible at a narrower aperture. I always shoot lightning at the lowest possible sensitivity (typically ISO 100 on DSLR's). The noise is drastically reduced, particularly when leaving the shutter open for up to several minutes. I like to take exposures of several minutes in order to capture multiple channels in the same frame.
"I've found there are numerous techniques for shooting natural lightning depending on what you're trying to image. I prefer to shoot with a wider aperture in order to capture more of the fine luminous detail from small branches and streamers,"
That is interesting. I would think greater debth of field would help capture more detail. I am going to have to remember that advice and try it next time we have a 'lighting" storm. Unlike Dustin, I have shot very little lightning.
That is interesting. I would think greater debth of field would help capture more detail. I am going to have to remember that advice and try it next time we have a 'lighting" storm. Unlike Dustin, I have shot very little lightning.