Forks over the bales
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
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Dec, 2014Views
372
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Awards
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 21
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Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
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All Star
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken just outside my hometown of Ballarat AustraliaTime
This was taken at around 2am one stormy night! We had been chasing the lightning since 10pm and this was one of our last stops. About an hour before this was taken my tripod toppled over! Luckily my camera didn't sustain any damage but my tripod was destroyed! As a result I was resting my camera wherever I could to try and stabilize it whilst I took my 30 second exposures. This one was taken with my camera sitting on top of an old fence post!Lighting
Obviously the lightning was what I was trying to capture, the cloud did break up slightly to reveal the stars and the moon peeked out every so often to give a bit of light to the foreground.Equipment
Canon 6D, Canon 24-105mm lens and an old fence post :)Inspiration
I am fairly new to photography and storms don't come our way very often. This is my 3rd or 4th attempt at lightning photography but I have quickly become addicted and as such try and find different locations in preparation for the next storm. I have dreamed of a 'lightning over hay bales' shot so this is a start!Editing
I used lightroom to add a little clarity, reduce some shadows and sharpen the image.In my camera bag
I have yet to build up my equipment so I have my Canon 6D, a tripod (just bought a new sturdier Manfrotto), Canon 24-105mm lens, spare battery, torch and a lens cloth.Feedback
You really are at the mercy of the conditions - you need to be safe from the lightning itself but also have a safe way out if it starts a bushfire in the dry Aussie scrub! Watch the lightning radar, try to predict where the lightning will be and think about where you can safely get a good shot. If it is a fairly light night (full moon and breaks in clouds) you can get more creative with your foreground. If the lightning is a fair distance away you can set a higher ISO and try and capture more of the foreground, if its closer reduce your ISO to avoid blowing out the lightning, the lightning may be enough to create some interesting silhouettes! Also try and get your focus sharp on a torch or distant lights using manual focusing. You only get one chance to get a great shot and its brief...I can't tell you the number of 'perfect shots' I've missed during storms!
