close iframe icon
approved icon nataliehampel avatar
nataliehampel
Banner

Light Up Your Life

Beautiful one day and perfect the next. This is the Whitsundays motto. On this day perfection came to the eye of the beholder. It was raining all day and the cl...
Read more

Beautiful one day and perfect the next. This is the Whitsundays motto. On this day perfection came to the eye of the beholder. It was raining all day and the clouds were very thick, you couldn’t see out into the ocean. All the activities were canceled so in the late afternoon a companion and I decided to go out and capture the clouds and the mist over the jetty. About half an hour into the shoot the storm intensified. A boat returned full of guests and they were desperately running off the jetty to get out of the rain. I was prepared, I had my rain coat, several towels and plastic bags that I used to protect my poor camera that was sitting in the elements. The first bolt of lightning struck and a wave of excitement washed over me. I had never photographed lightning before and I was excited to put my knowledge to the test. First I tried using long exposures to capture the bolt, but I found that I was just chewing through space on my memory card and missed the bolt. It wasn’t working. I decided to go completely manual. I set my camera to bulb to remote shoot and opened up the aperture. Now I was relying on my reflexes. Thankfully they are cat like and I started to have success! I was capturing wonderful strikes, but they weren’t perfect. By this stage, day had turned to night, my friend was hungry, cold and wet and decided that he was done for the night so he left to get ready for dinner. Shortly after the guests were braving the elements on their way to the dining hall. They were shocked to see me still there and were genuinely concerned for me, but I was too focused on capturing that perfect shot to worry about food and how wet I was. Several hours passed and then it happened. When everyone else was inside having their dinner, I was outside, all alone and managed to capture this beauty.
Read less

Views

52

Likes

Awards

Top Choice
dkmaxwell estercastillo08 skippy4280
All Star
enriquekapie Bruz EJGJRobyn
Outstanding Creativity
wildthing whitedeer
Peer Award
rachellowe Travellersteve
Superb Composition
coxcraig
Absolute Masterpiece
Merleann
Superior Skill
Chefloves2cook
Magnificent Capture
Steve--photography--

Top Ranks

Shutter Speed Experiments Photo ContestTop 30 rank
Unique Locations Photo ContestTop 20 rank

Categories


1 Comment | Report
billgardam PRO+
 
billgardam July 01, 2018
Very nice.
See all
It’s your time to shine! ☀️

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Already a member? Log In

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, and acknowledge you've read our Privacy Policy Notice.