Electric
Amazing morning at the field of lights.
Amazing morning at the field of lights.
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Oct, 2018Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Colors In Nature Photo Contest 2022
Contest Finalist in Creative Landscapes Photo Contest vol3
Top Shot Award
Contest Finalist in Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 18
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 38
Peer Award
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benmonda
July 12, 2022
I've never seen anything like it does it have a story the bio luminescence is off the rail
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken in Central Australia very close to Uluru (or Ayers Rock). The scene is an art installation entitled "Field of Light" by artist Bruce Munro. The lightning show from mother nature was not part of Bruce's installation, but I was extremely pleased to find it happening. Truly a field of light!Time
This was about 30 minutes before sunrise at 5:30am. The beginnings of blue hour. We had to get up before 4 am from memory to get to the location in time. Absolutely worth getting up that day!Lighting
I had never shot lightning before so that was the tricky part. I did a quick google search on the way to the location when i saw the lightning occurring. Thank you internet for the quick tips! The rest of the installation was fairly straightforward to shoot. I was shooting in bulb mode and was set to ISO 400 and f/2.8 for most of this series. The shutter was open and when a lightning flash occurred I closed the shutter. Exposures were generally 10-25 seconds. As the light grew (sunrise approaching) i just dropped the ISO towards 100.Equipment
Canon 5d MkIV, 16-35mm f/2.8 L Series lens (v3), tripod and a remote / cable release. I don't remember using any filters, but I may have had a polarizer on, I can't be sure though (sorry!)Inspiration
I saw the field of light advertised and wanted to see and shoot it. No other inspiration needed - look at that scene!Editing
I use Bridge then photoshop and Nik pluggins generally, on this image I cropped in a little closer, added some light/exposure, removed some shadows and added a little structure. The colour in the sky was tweaked ever so slightly. The colour on the ground is what it looked like from memory. They were quite vibrant!In my camera bag
Cameras Canon 5D MkIV and sometimes my Fujifilm x100F 16-35mm f/2.8 70-200 f/2.8 occasionally 85mm f/1.2 and or my fisheye Cleaning spray, cloths, blower, batteries, rain cover etc Passport...Feedback
Here goes! I have only shot lightning this one time, so I encourage you to read others (experts!) advice and take heed of them more than me here! Ideally practice shooting lightning BEFORE the EPIC event unfolds before your eyes and also do the basics (clean lenses, check settings aren't set to something weird, ensure batteries charged etc!) Take a test shot to get a sense of what correct exposure is. Perhaps 30 seconds would have been right for this without lightning at f/2.8 and ISO 200. This is hard due to the lightning being unpredictable in frequency and intensity. Next try to gauge how frequently the lightning will strike. Lets say that is every 15 seconds. Add more light (ISO, open aperture) such that 15 seconds is about right for the exposure. For me this was ISO 400 and f/2.8 Use Bulb mode and set ISO and aperture to whatever you decided above Pre-focus and use Manual focus (so camera/lens doesn't hunt). Use a remote / cable shutter release Use a tripod :-) Take the shot and hold the lens open until you see a lightning strike. THEN CLOSE THE SHUTTER! Also if too much time passes and you will have over exposed, also close the shutter and try again Have fun!
