Whip Cracker - this rang out across the sky like a giant whip had been cracked. Love storms! Shot with Nikon D750, 50mm lens, 30s exposure @ f-4, ISO 100.
Feb, 2018Views
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LeytonPlante
March 29, 2018
Awesome picture! When shooting storms do you use a lightning trigger or a series of shots hoping to catch a bolt?
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in Gillieston Heights near Maitland, New South Wales, Australia.Time
This was approximately around 7pm at night. Earlier I'd checked the BOM website and knew storms were going to be around so, had made sure my gear was near the front door ready to go. While I was cooking tea, I heard the rumble of thunder approaching so; the cooktop was turned off, I grabbed my camera & tripod and ran outside.Lighting
Safety first, study the Beaurea of Meteorology and get an idea of where the storms might be heading and watch for consistent strike zones. From there, figure out where you might be able to get a good shot without actually being in the storm. Lightning usually goes the shortest path to earth so; choose somewhere away from trees and under power lines and I also usually go for spots that have higher vantage point without comprising safety of course. Watch for any spots where the lightning is striking and guesstimate approximately how many seconds apart the strikes are and if there might be any consistent areas where the strikes seem to be occurring most. Eg. A ridge with Iron Ore underneath, etc. Have patience and always be ready to shift location in a hurry if necessary. :-DEquipment
I love to use my Nikon D750 because it's great in darker lighting situations, tripod because I shoot long exposures for this sort of thing, my 50mm Nikkor Prime Lens as it's sharp as a tack and my trusty plastic bag with a hair tie, aka expensive weather shield (not).Inspiration
I've always loved watching the lightning during a thunderstorm right from when I was a child and most certainly get a rush photographing it now. I'm drawn to it because it's not always easy to predict and takes patience. And once you finally get THE shot the adrenaline rush, pure joy and happy dancing are immense!Editing
For this shot, I used Lightroom to tweak the colours to where I like them to be for night time. I love night skies to be a blue colour with purple hues. I also made sure my horizon was level.In my camera bag
The first thing I always check my camera bag for is my beloved Nikon D750 Camera, my ancient old trusty Nikkor 28-80mm Lens which came with my first film SLR, my favourite Nikkor 50mm Prime Lens, an old Tamron 70-300mm Lens, ND Filters, fully charged spare batteries, spare SD cards, cleaning cloths and a plastic bag with a hair tie for wet weather.Feedback
Safety first, I can't stress this enough. Apart from that though the best advice anyone ever gave me was to use a tripod, shoot in Manual and start at 30sec exposure @ f/8 for nighttime. Then adjust your settings to suit from there.
