jameslam

Lightning over Bridge

Taken by Pokakku, Myanmar. The lightning storm came upon us. In the foreground is the longest bridge in Myanmar, spanning the mighty Irrawaddy River....
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Taken by Pokakku, Myanmar. The lightning storm came upon us. In the foreground is the longest bridge in Myanmar, spanning the mighty Irrawaddy River.
Read less

NIKON D750

settings

Aperture 56/10 ISO 1600 Shutter 2/1 Focal Length 850/10

upload_date

Oct, 2016

Views

652

Likes

+41

Awards

Creative Winter Award

Curator's Selection

Judge Favorite

Top Shot Award 21

Legendary Award

Featured

Contest Finalist in The Night Photo Contest

Peer Award

Superb Composition

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

Outstanding Creativity

Superior Skill

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

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Behind The Lens

Location

This was taken on the shores of the Irrawaddy River. The bridge that you see in the background is the longest in Myanmar measuring 3.4 km in length. It carries both automobile and train traffic.

Time

This was taken after dinner time and it was such an amazing experience. Here was a storm that was localized enough for us not to be in danger, but intense enough to produce bolts of lightning in similar places. The picture you are looking at was taken with an 85mm lens.

Lighting

The boat and the bridge both provide some kind of foundation for the photograph while the lightning just happened to be (luckily) on the third. What you're not seeing is the hundreds of other photographs that we took that night of the storm. Most had no lightning in them.

Equipment

Nikon 750 on a tripod with a Nikon 85mm 1.8 G,

Inspiration

We live in Alberta which is home to some amazing storms rolling in over the prairies. The entire summer before this picture was taken, my wife and I tried to capture some lightning, ANY lightning as storms rolled in. Either our shutter was too long, lightning didn't strike or we missed it completely (even with a huge 18mm wide angle). When this occurred we knew we had to spend some time catching it. And would you believe that after so many missed opportunities at home, we managed to capture this!

Editing

This photo had very little post processing. I increased the clarity and contrast just slightly but one thing I love about most night photography is that it doesn't need very much heavy editing.

In my camera bag

We just upgraded most of our equipment two years ago. I always carry around a Nikon D750 with 2 lenses: Nikon 35mm 1.4G and a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 FL. I use that combination for everything from taking pictures of our young daughters, to shooting a wedding to travel in a foreign country.

Feedback

Don't go looking for lightning photographs on your travels but know how to do it. The best way to do that is to practice, practice and more practice. The more you know your camera and lenses the easier it is to setup for a relatively technical shot like this. Travel is a wonderful way to get to know your camera and lenses. You learn to appreciate the nuances and understand how each piece of equipment will behave in different conditions. You also develop not only your technical skills but also your composition and creativity. Good luck!

See more amazing photos, follow jameslam

jameslam

jameslam

Lightning over Bridge

Taken by Pokakku, Myanmar. The lightning storm came upon us. In the foreground is the longest bridge in Myanmar, spanning the mighty Irrawaddy River.... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow jameslam

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Taken by Pokakku, Myanmar. The lightning storm came upon us. In the foreground is the longest bridge in Myanmar, spanning the mighty Irrawaddy River....
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.