And the Lightning Strikes - Anza-Borrego Desert - October 12, 2018

Nice lightning bolts looking west-northwest from the top of Sweeney Pass in the southern portion of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. These appear to be over either Banner and-or Mount Laguna. To the right is Sweeney Pass Road aka. County Route S2.

Last night I got to experience the most epic thunderstorm I've ever seen in southern California. I know I may have said something similar a week or two ago, but this one tops ALL thunderstorms I've experienced out here. Fortunately I was able to capture this one before it started raining and I had to shelter my camera from the rain using a table and had to switch to a more narrow lens. I have a few more shots that I'll be posting in the next day or two.

This was shot with a Canon 6D and Sigma 15mm EX DG lens at 5 sec f-2.8 ISO 250. It took a lot of post-processing to reduce a blob of blown-out light above the third lightning bolt from the left. I probably should have shot at a slightly smaller aperture or lower ISO. I also spent considerable time playing with the white balance adjustment. I wanted the lightning to pop, but didn't want to image to be too purple or too blue. Other than these items, I'm pleased with the way this turned out.
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