Lightning over Hye, Texas
Spectacular Lightning display in the Texas Hill Country, taken from Compass Rose Cellars, Hye, TX.
Spectacular Lightning display in the Texas Hill Country, taken from Compass Rose Cellars, Hye, TX.
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May, 2016Views
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Awards
People's Choice in lightning Photo Challenge
Member Selection Award
Contest Finalist in Time And Light Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Adrenaline Rush Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Magnificent Capture
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
Genius
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
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MikeCeglady
September 26, 2016
Hands down winner for the Adrenaline Rush contest. This makes my shot look ordinary!
mikehillen
September 26, 2016
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
MiguelLecuona
September 27, 2016
Thank you all! This bolt exploded and spread for miles in every direction, it was a thrill to capture it. So this is not a composite image, its one of a series from a 2 hour storm traversing the horizon. I have a 45-sec time-lapse of the complete display on my FB. "Hill Country Light" in Videos.
cyrillinegoodman
October 11, 2016
OMG! SPECTACULAR CAPTURE. Just looking at this photo and I get an adrenaline rush. I wish this was my photo, I am jealous, LOL. Truly spectacular. You are my WINNER! In my country ( Barbados) when someone does something spectacular we say " I want to be like you when I grow up." I want to take photos like this as I grow up. Congratulations my WINNER.
kevinshanks
November 16, 2016
Amazing mate , we get some crackers in Australia but yours in just stuning ..
PRO+
kimmarieostrowski
August 17, 2017
OMG!!! I love lightning and DAMN! is this an awesome shot. Wish I could just capture one branch. Wish I could use this as my desktop!
ArizonaSky
August 18, 2017
True talent! After seeing this I knew I couldn't even attempt to try. It is Amazing.
PRO
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at a Texas Hill Country winery with huge views, this is facing North-northwest. May 2016, Memorial Day Weekend.Time
An evening storm lingered during a warm spring night, this shot captured around 9PM.Lighting
Mother Nature knows how to light the sky, it's our job to capture it! The lightning patterns were unusual -- spider lightning would spread across one part of the sky, and linger before dissipating. I set up to expose for the lights in the tree against a dark sky, at ISO125, in order to have an extended shutter and to capture lightning as it traversed across the sky.Equipment
Nikon D750, and one of the Nikkor trinity lenses - 14-28mm F/2.8. This shot captured at the full 14mm width (and full frame), F/4.5, ISO 125 and a 13 second single exposure. This photo was picked up and published in NatGEO Spain.Inspiration
Storms are always a favorite moment for photographers and this one was unique in how it acted, and the timing was very lucky in that I was already at a winery with a great view, to capture a tasting event. As this storm drew near, we could see it was very different -- mostly electrical action. And moving across the horizon, not at us. We never got wet, hardly heard a ripple of thunder, and yet the lightning was prolific. Some flashes were quite epic, so I set up to try to capture spider lightning with a wide angle lens, giving up on some distant strikes. This particular bolt just exploded right in the center of a 14mm field of view and spread in every single direction, coming straight to and over the top of the winery! That it also mirrored the lit tree was a bonus! It seemed to last for about 4 seconds in total, people asking "did you get it did you get it?" Yep, I got it!Editing
Just a little clarity, and a darker black point, to bring out the cloud cover high above the lightning. Since this picture in 2016, I have migrated to Capture 1 (I was an Apple Aperture hold out until the bitter end). C1 is terrific, but this was done in Aperture.In my camera bag
There's always a full size tripod and a smaller table top in the Jeep. Usually a light stand and an off camera flash. In the bag now are the two Nikon Mirrorless cameras Z6 and Z7 and native lenses -- 14-30mm F/4; 24-70mm F/4; and primes at 35 50 85 F/1.8. I keep a D850 with a 70-200mm mounted to it (the Tamron g2 it's terrific), and carry a 105mm F/1.4 or macro 2.8. And lately a drone with a landing pad.Feedback
An intervalometer can help for capturing long exposures. I used the one built into the camera for this, but you don't want Time Lapse you want Interval Shooting to have full Res of each capture. Set up in M for all aspects including focus, ISO and exposure values. There's a fair amount of luck since we don't control the strikes, but you can do your homework on site with respect to lens, composition and exposure values. This storm called for a horizon line well below the typical 1/3 level. I don't have a motorized slide but I can imagine how that would be useful. DO NOT OVEREXPOSE. You want every chance to catch all those filaments as they die out at the end of their run.
