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Super Storm
This is a composition of 15 images depicting an Outback Queensland storm and life going on around it. The loop in the image is a commercial plane taking off ju...
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This is a composition of 15 images depicting an Outback Queensland storm and life going on around it. The loop in the image is a commercial plane taking off just seconds after the lightning bolt struck nearby. I have had this image in my mind for nearly three years and have had numerous attempts, so I am absolutely amazed that it came together!
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Nov, 2015Views
477
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Awards
Action Award
Staff Winter Selection 2015
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Love it
Magnificent Capture
Genius
All Star
Superior Skill
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image is a composition of 15 images that I handpicked to create a scene of 'life goes on' in Central Queensland Australia. I had been hoping to capture something like this for nearly three years. I have often sat on my back veranda and watched the world go by and visioned capturing this life in motion with the planes and traffic movement at night. At other times in the past I have watched the lightning shows off in the distance and wanted to capture them but didn't have the know how or technology to do it. Capturing storms and lightning was a huge inspiration for me wanting to get back into photography. I think this was one of the quickest equipment set ups I have ever done because the storm had fired up very quickly and they often weaken just as quickly. I photographed this storm for just over an hour. I had only just pressed start on the remote when a passenger aircraft took off from the local airport, and the large lightning bolt struck within seconds of the takeoff as well.Time
I have used star stacking techniques and applied them to sunsets, storms and other landscape scenes at different times of the day. It can work wonderfully to give a unique image. This was taken in November 2015 at around 7.30pm in the evening. I had just glanced outside and discovered this storm was starting to fire up. As a result my Motherly instincts were taken over by the mad keen storm photographer and I raced outside set up the gear then retreated indoors for safety reasons. This storm travelled several hundred kilometres during the evening and I was able to sit and watch it for quite a few hours. We have some incredible storms and lightning pass through our region so storm season can put on a stunning show at any time of the day.Lighting
As a child I was nearly struck by lightning so as a result I have a deep respect for mother nature and the beauty and drama that she can create. The near miss was a fantastic lesson on how unpredictable and dangerous storms can be. I was sitting with my parents in our yard watching a storm off in the distance when a clear cloud to ground strike hit several metres away from us. We thought that we were safe because the stars were out above us, clearly that wasn't the case. I can still vividly remember the sudden blinding light, deafening roar of the thunder and the most terrifying rush of Adrenalin. When it comes to capturing lightning, I use a variety of exposure times from 2 to 20 seconds and set my remote to continuous shooting. The longer the shutter is open without overexposing the image, the better, particularly if your camera is slow at processing. Murphys law should state that the most stunning lightning strikes will only occur when the camera is processing images. The more you can do to speed up the processing time the better. I turn off long exposure noise reduction and use a good quality SDHC card that processes at 90mbs. If I am planning on stacking images I tend to record the images as jpegs for post processing purposes. Also, remember when using a tripod to turn off image stabilisation so that your camera isn't sitting on your perfectly stable tripod and giving itself a little shake!Equipment
My now retired Sony A37 was set up on a Valbon tripod to take this image. I used a Sigma 10-20mm 3.5 lens and a Giga T Pro ii remote set to take continuous images.Inspiration
As a photographer, I try and find ways to apply post processing techniques in different or unusual ways. This was a driving force for my vision of the storm image. I had wanted to capture the lightning show in a unique way, as well as the movement of traffic with life going on. The plane taking off was just the icing on the cake for me.Editing
This is a heavily manipulated image. The end result was created by selecting 15 images from an hours worth of continuous shooting of the storm. These images were selected on how well they blended together and created the mood and balance of light and dark to get the look that I wanted. I had attempted to use all of the images by stacking them together, however in this case less was more. I used a variety of methods in Photoshop to blend, erase, and correct exposure issues throughout the image. Most of the work was done using hand edits and adding additional layers one at a time to see what worked, what needed editing and what was best left out.In my camera bag
I always carry two cameras, I have my old faithful Sony A37 as well as a more recent Sony A6000. My lenses consist of the standard kit as well as a Sony 32mm macro lens, a Sigma 10-20 f3.5 and a Sigma 150-500mm. (Nicknamed husband no. 3 because it is always by my side whenever I head off on photography adventures!) I also have a Sony adaptor that allows me to use my favourite a-mount lenses on my newer e-mount camera. I have to say that the a6000 is absolutely tiny and looks ridiculous when I use the adaptor and the 150-500mm lens, but on a brighter note, with my friends laughing at the sight of it, I may have the upper hand with steadier shots... I never leave home without packing a Lenspen and an air blower for dust removal, six million batteries of various sizes and shapes as well as a remote and tripod for each camera. I also have a variety of filters. I prefer to keep one on the lens that is in use at all times, particularly during landscape photography. I had a recent incident when walking through thigh deep water. I slipped on a slime covered rock and in the process of keeping the camera above water level I smacked the camera lens first into a rock. The filter took a blow, but the lens lived to take some of my all time favourite images!Feedback
This image was three years in the making, so the first thing I would say is if you have a vision in mind, don't give up, keep trying! I have taken literally thousands of photos trying to get something like this. If you are considering doing weather or storm photography, keep your personal safety as the number one priority. I always use a remote for storm photography and stay in a safe location. Remember that lightning can arc across objects and travel through your camera gear so you can be seriously injured or die from an indirect strike. With regards to taking the photos, it is a case of working out the best settings for the situation you are in at the time of taking the photos. When I first started out, I was always keen to find out the settings others had used, but quickly realised settings that work in one situation won't work in another. Always use manual focus when you intend to stack your photos otherwise you risk having the lens moving around while it re-focuses for every shot and the end result is mis-aligned images and ghosting in the final image. Don't be scared to get stuck into Photoshop and play, just make sure that you save a separate copy before you start so that no permanent damage can be done to your favourite shot! It can be the most daunting and frustrating thing about photography until you get a basic understanding of how the program works. The more you play, the more creative you will become. Make Adobe tutorials and Youtube your new best friends for both photography techniques and post processing. You will never stop learning, so don't get frustrated and give up. When it comes to composition, don't be scared to break the rules, learn post processing techniques such as blurring, dodging and burning etc that will help draw the eye to the main subject in your image. And most importantly do make sure that you use composition in a way that clearly tells the images story.
