Silent Thunder
Massive positive lightning bolt leaps from a distant storm off the coast of New Smyrna Beach, FL.
Massive positive lightning bolt leaps from a distant storm off the coast of New Smyrna Beach, FL.
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Oct, 2014Views
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Awards
Winner in Natural Reflections Photo Challenge
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Jaw Dropping
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Happy
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo almost never happened if it wasn't for persistence. I drove over 150 miles up and down the east coast of Florida trying to find a spot to setup and start capturing photos till I got back to New Smyrna Beach where it became my last location for setting up on a storm to photograph.Time
After an exhausted effort driving around while the storm was putting strike after strike out. What started as an hour drive ended up being 3 hours and a bunch of unexpected traffic delays on the interstate. After selecting a location to finalize my attempts at catching something worth wild, I realized it was close to midnight and the following work day was approaching.Lighting
So after a few failed captures during processing between long exposures, I readjusted my settings and was beginning to pack up before pow, this bolt appeared and I looked down at my camera to see that it still was exposing. I almost yelled and woke up the turtles nesting nearby. After exposure I hit the review button to be exposed to such a beautifully crafted lightning bolt that only mother nature could deliver.Equipment
To make this photo possible involved using a Canon 6D with a 17-40L lens on manual mode, a weighted down tripod and an iintervalometer set for 20 second exposures.Inspiration
I have always been inspired to capturing lightning. The beauty you miss from seeing just a quick flash and then seeing it on camera, the detail it produces is something that should always be captured and admired.Editing
To adjusted for a bit of over exposure due to the illumination of the bolt through the cloud, the highlights have been reduced and a bit of burn has been applied to show the origin of the bolt in detail. A slight bump on the contrast and shadow brought more detail out in the clouds with a finishing of detail by sharpening the photo just a tad.In my camera bag
My Canon 6D with my 17-40L and 50MM never are too far away when it comes to storm season. I also carry a Nikon D5300 with the 18-55 VR lens mainly used as either a backup, alternate perspective or for video while the GoPro3+ is used to document the action. 1 Fiberglass Tripod and 1 Full metal tripod are always on hand especially during windy takes. An intervalometer is a must for any night time photography and it does help to also carry tons of spare batteries as I have 6 spares for the canon, 4 for the Nikon and 6 for the GoPro.Feedback
When it comes to lightning, settings are always something you have to fine tune depending on the location, distance and intensity of the bolt. I typically will start off with a 320 ISO and an ƒ/10. Take a shot and see what my results are and then go from there. I try to prevent from going higher than 800 ISO and no less than ƒ/10 as it either over exposes or starts to loose detail when it comes to lightning.
