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FollowA bright, loud storm over the famous Lennox Head
A bright, loud storm over the famous Lennox Head
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Notes of Blue Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Angry Storms Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in A Storm Is Coming Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Wicked Weather Photo Contest
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Behind The Lens
Location
This Photo was taken from a small headland south of Lennox Head - the legendary surf location, East Coast AustraliaTime
The Shot was taken during the last wisps of twilight. It was getting dark but there was an amazing amount of light from the Lightning.Lighting
It was fairly dark, the only light was Lightning, the shutter remained open for 20 seconds.Equipment
Canon 5dmk2 - Canon 17-40 lens, tripod and a shutter release.Inspiration
This particular storm, a big southerly, had been building all day, very slow moving and only just off the coast. I sat and watched it for a couple of hours and it started to thunder. Fortunately it was very calm where I was sitting, the wind and rain and lightning only 500 metres or less away, spectacular. As it got dark the storm, very slowly, moved its way to the next headland, I set up facing the north and with a long exposure, boom.Editing
Two simple edits in Lightroom, slight contrast adjustment and remove the magenta tint from the lightning flash. To remove the Magenta cast - simply slide the magenta to zero in Lightroom or pretty much any editing app.In my camera bag
I'm a Canon user. I would normally carry a 5dmk3, Lenses - 70-200 f2.8 (my favourite) the 17-40 f4 (sturdy weatherproof and goes with me everywhere, a sigma 12-24, a great wide lens although sometimes it will make the distant seem more distant, love the lens, its good to have a choice of wide and wider. Then there is all the bits and pieces, spare batteries, filters - NDs, polariser, shutter release, a couple of 600ex flashes (I often shoot architecture and a couple of larger flash units can really help) plus you never know when you need a bit of extra light. Gopro, A litra torch - blindingly bright and so tiny. Then there is the big old tripod a Manfrotto 055, as sturdy as you get.Feedback
Shooting storms can be dangerous, I have been caught out a couple of times and seriously wished I had not put myself in such a position. But, they are beautiful and with some planning the risks can be small. Shooting a storm as it approaches will mean you have to be ready when it gets to you by having a place close by so you can stay safe when the worst of it is above you. As the storm leaves is a great time to shoot. It is calmer and hopefully not too wet. OK, how to actually get the shot. For lightning you need to be able to keep the shutter open for a while, so you have a chance of getting at least some strikes. A shutter release is a good tool as is an intervalometer -a lot of cameras have them built in - mine doesn't - i use the Magic Lantern which gives you a lot of extra menu choices for a Canon) The next thing to do is shoot. Keep a weather eye out and have a sturdy umbrella handy.