Lightning

Two shot composite - Nikon Z9 with Z24-70mm at 24mm 1/500sec, f/5.0, ISO 8000

As we get into the warmer weather in Florida, storms become more frequent. With climate change apparently warming the climate each year, storms become more and more violent and occur more and more often. In summertime, Florida storms are pretty much a daily occurrence as the land warms during the early hours and turbulent skies develop by mid-afternoon. With the rapidly rising warm air from ground level, condensation of the humid air’s water vapor results in heavy downpours and lightning. We had a pretty good one last night with some decent photo-ops.

A bit more about lightning…..Lightning is a spectacular natural phenomenon characterized by the rapid discharge of electricity in the atmosphere. It occurs during thunderstorms when static charges build up within clouds, creating a difference in electrical potential. This discharge can produce brilliant flashes of light, followed by the sound of thunder, which results from the rapid expansion of heated air. Lightning can take several forms, including cloud-to-ground as seen in today’s first photograph , cloud-to-cloud (see nest shot), and intra-cloud strikes, each demonstrating the immense energy and power of nature. Capturing a lightning strike in photography presents unique challenges, but with the right techniques, it can result in breathtaking imagery that showcases the raw beauty of this atmospheric event.

Cloud-to-cloud lightning strike from last night’s storm….. Nikon Z9 with Z24-70 at 24mm 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400

Some of those techniques used in photographing lightning include the following three:

1: Long exposures of the night sky - If the storm is occurring at night, a tried and true approach to capturing a strike is to point your camera at the region of the sky where you have been seeing repeated lighting bolts and opening up the shutter using the “Bulb” setting with a cable release. The “Bulb” setting allows you to keep the shutter open as long as you are depressing the shutter release button. If you use a cable release, you can usually lock the shutter open until you want it to close without the necessity of holding it down manually. As long as it is totally dark outside, the camera won’t record any ambient light until the lightning hits. There is no worry about “over-exposing” your shot because the duration of a lightning strike is on average .52 seconds. In essence, the lightning bolt has taken its own image. Close the shutter after the strike to record your image or if it is indeed totally dark outside, leave it open to record multiple strikes in the same frame. Recommended settings inclue a reasonably low ISO of 100-400, a medium aperture of f/5.6 to f/8 and focus set to infinity. A tripod or other means of stabilizing you camera (like a bean bag) is mandatory.

2: Preburst - Many of the newer mirrorless cameras have a “Preburst” setting which actually allows you to take photos before pushing the shutter release! When you depress the shutter half way down, the camera begins to “buffer” or store images temporarily until you fully depress the release. At that time, your camera records the images it it presently “seeing” as well as those that occurred up to 1 second before you ever made the final push. When using Preburst, first set your camera to a low ISO of 100-400, choose a medium Aperture of f/5.6 to f/8 and a slow shutter speed of 1/60 sec or slower. Remember, the flash of lighting is so fast that there will be now need for a fast shutter speed to stop action. (All the shots in today’s blog were taken using this method)

3: Finally, an easy way to gather lighting strikes is to use a “Lightning trigger”. This device triggers you camera when it detects a flash of light. Some popular lighting triggers include the Strike Finder 2, Pluto Trigger, and MIOPS Flex Bolt. Prices range from pretty reasonable to pretty high. You usually get what you pay for, so make your decision on how serious you are about photographing lightning!

Another lighting trigger which is super cheap is iLightning Cam 2 for your iPhone. At $1.99, you really can’t go wrong and it is a reliable way to get nice sharp photos by using your cell phone. Worth giving it a try!

Hand held lighting strike over the Atlantic from last night’s storm using the Pre-burst feature on my Nikon Z9..

Get out there and enjoy capturing the power of nature by photographing lightning! Above and beyond all these tips….be SAFE! Make sure you are far enough away from lighting and in a safe area.