Lightning Over Syracuse
Sep, 2013Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY.Time
I took this photo at night - I didn't know when to stop taking photos because with lightning, it's always unpredictable. I didn't want to miss THAT ONE SHOT, so I stayed until the storm was over.Lighting
With the Hall of Languages building being already pretty eerie at night, I thought that this would be the perfect building to use as my subject. I didn't have much control over the lighting in this photo, although the harsh shadows from the spotlights illuminating the building helped with the overall creepy feeling that this image has.Equipment
At the time, I was only equipped with a Canon T4i, my kit lens (18-135mm 3.5/5.6), and a tripod. This goes to show that you don't HAVE to have good equipment to be a "good photographer". You can capture amazing moments with a beginner camera.Inspiration
This image was captured in my freshman year of college, in 2013 Fall. I remember seeing lightning and hearing large claps of thunder outside of my dorm on that particular night. At the time, I was asked to take photos for the yearbook. The photo editor told me to try to get any cover worthy photos in my free time for a chance for my photo to be featured as a full bleed photo in the first few pages of the yearbook. I set this as my goal, and pursued it. The building I chose, The Hall of Languages, is an iconic building on our campus - students walk by it and take photos of it every day. It is the oldest building around. I knew that if I could pull off an EPIC shot with lightning in the background, it would take my ordinary photo and transform it into something special. As I set out with my gear, it started pouring rain. So, I grabbed a cardboard box which I found on the side of the road and... instead of holding it over my head, I protected my equipment with it. After multiple 60 second exposures, I was about ready to give up, because the storm had moved on behind me. I decided to do a couple more. In one of my last few exposures, I finally saw a large streak of light dash behind the building. CRACKLE!! I anxiously for the exposure to finish and quickly checked my camera screen for the results. Sure enough, I saw a lightning bolt in the sky, perfectly framed. After I got the shot, I headed home to edit. When I finally uploaded the photo onto social media, my photo editor contacted me and said that he wanted the full-resolution photo for one of the cover photos! I was ecstatic. Mission complete.Editing
There wasn't too much post-processing. The photo looked great out of the camera. I enhanced the actual lightning bolt in Photoshop using some curves - that's about it.In my camera bag
It has been a year since I took this photo, so I have upgraded from my trusty Canon T4i to a Canon 5D Mark III. For lenses, I usually carry around my Canon 16-35mm 2.8L with a Canon 85mm 1.2L wherever I go - whether that be class, adventures, or photo shoots. I love the perspective that the wide angle gives, which makes it great for on-the-go landscape shots. Whenever I see an opportunity to create beautiful bokeh (usually in portraits), I will pull out the beastly 85mm 1.2L. I carry my equipment around in a CaseLogic DCB-309 DSLR backpack.Feedback
If you are trying to capture lightning for the first time, I suggest you start off with a wide angle lens. Look at your local weather report, and see which way the clouds will be coming in from. Make sure you know where to point your camera, and that you have everything planned out. Be sure to include a foreground object to make your shots interesting, unless the only thing you want to capture is lightning. If you have plastic bags, wrap those around your camera and just leave the front element of the lens exposed to protect your camera body and lens mount from any water leakage. Happy shooting!
