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InnerVisionPhotography
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Lightning Over Sandown Bay
Lightning Over Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight.
Copyrights Matt Blythe, Inner Vision Photography, 2014.
Lightning Over Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight.
Copyrights Matt Blythe, Inner Vision Photography, 2014.
Read less
Copyrights Matt Blythe, Inner Vision Photography, 2014.
Read less
Dec, 2014Views
480
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken from my flat window in Sandown Bay on the Isle of Wight. I have nice sea views and an even better view if I get up on the roof.Time
Photographed around 11pm. I heard the storm rumbling in the distance about an hour earlier which gave me time to set up the tripod in a south facing window and then watched as it rolled in to the bay.Lighting
Lighting is not so important when it comes to photographing lightning. Obviously if you have something of interest in the frame it makes a better shot. Street lights pale into insignificance when lightning happens so you can use quite a small aperture and a long exposure and just wait for the lightning moment. You are exposing for the lightning essentially and leaving your shutter open.Equipment
Nikon D5200 with a standard 18-55mm kit lens and Manfrotto tripod with an upgraded ball head. Nothing special going on with the equipment. It helps to take clear shots if you have a remote shutter release.Inspiration
My friend was staying at my flat and we are both into photography. It was summer and the Isle of Wight Festival was on at the time which is pretty exciting anyway. There is no way I was going to miss a lightning storm passing across the bay at night right in front of my window.Editing
On my home computer I still use an old version of photoshop CS3. The shot is pretty much straight-out-of-camera with just some saturation and added contrast.In my camera bag
Kit lens, wide angle, 300mm zoom, 50mm prime. I always have spare batteries, SD cards and a micro fibre cleaning clothe. A flashlight is essential too if you plan on taking night photography.Feedback
Choose a long exposure with a small aperture, such that the shot would be correctly exposed if lightning did not happen. The small aperture (larger f number) will not overexpose the shot when lightning happens. If it does overexpose, reduce your ISO and aperture size and adjust the length of your exposure accordingly. The exposure -length- is only significant for the ambient light in the scene, it will not affect the lightning which occurs at a split second. Once lightning happens close your shutter immediately, which will prevent over exposure if more lightning occurs. The longer your exposure the more chance you have of not missing the lightning. I usually expose for around 10 seconds. Close the shutter for 1 second and shoot again, repeatedly. You get a lot of frames with no action but it is worth it when lightning does happen during your exposure. Good luck.
