tonydatiger23

Conversations with God

This was taken in Holden Beach North Carolina at around 3 am. I was woken by a bright flash of light at around two in the mourning and even though I was tired I...
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This was taken in Holden Beach North Carolina at around 3 am. I was woken by a bright flash of light at around two in the mourning and even though I was tired I was like yes! I waited to see if there would be another flash of light which would mean that thunderstorms are moving into the area and deep down I knew I had to grab my gear and head to the rooftop patio because I had to have a chat with God about something important. So I got up to the roof top and waited about 15 minutes for the conversation to start. For the next three hours we had one heck of discussion about my work as a photographer. This is one of my favorites from the night. Let the beauty of this image speak to you......
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Canon EOS 5D Mark II

settings

Aperture f/4 ISO 200 Shutter 30/1 Focal Length 50/1

upload_date

Aug, 2015

Views

596

Likes

Awards

Action Award

Chatter Award

Zenith Award

Legendary Award

2020 Choice Award

Top Choice

+22

Outstanding Creativity

+17

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at Holden Beach North Carolina during the first week of the Fourth of July.

Time

I was woken by a flash of light coming in through my window at the beach house at 2 am in the mourning. I was super tired and I wasn't fully sure if the flash Is aw was lightning or not. I went outside to take a look on the patio and waited about 10 minutes or so scanning the horizon to see if there was any activity and if I needed to set up my camera or not. Sure enough I saw another quick flash and said ok Lord I know we need to talk let me go and get my camera. The beach house we stay at has a sky patio built onto the deck of the patio outside my room which gives me a full 360 view of the island and coastline that is perfect for storm photography. During the night is when I like to document storms because you get to see the inner workings of the Storm itself as it constantly changes and evolves not to mention the colors are more intense and beautiful.

Lighting

Natural lighting of the scene is most important and the very first fundamental skill any photographer should learn.... When you dial in your camera to properly get the image you want the less you have to spend in post having to fix a bad image. There are settings on your camera that can help regulate the amount of light coming into your sensor and most photographers don't even know how to maximize these very basic settings. My favorite is sometimes labeled with a simple + or minus indicating you can reduce or increase the amount of light coming into the camera. This simple setting adjustment can help you create the perfect shot and also help you to get those natural colors to pop a little bit

Equipment

I used a simple tripod, the cannon 5d mark 2 with a 50 mm f1.4 lens and that is it. Some photographers have multiple lenses that they never use and when I get asked about lens choice I ask about what they want to photograph because certain lenses are all they need to be able to create the certain kinds of images they want.. Keep it simple with gear folks no need to have a huge arsenal unless you want to have a collection of camera gear. You should invest in the highest quality glass lenses versus buying cheap lenses. You can see a huge difference in image quality with the right glass!!!

Inspiration

I was having a rough time and I was exhausted but excited to be at the beach. I wasn't expecting to be called out onto the sky patio for a Three and a half hour intense lighting show either. It is called Conversations with God because he called me out with my camera to shoot and to listen to me. It was as if he wanted to create a personal light show just for me in real time in the middle of the night. Just me my Camera, and God. See a lighting strike is never the same just like a sunset will never be the same. Each Bolt is different from the last and can come in an array of colors like red, blue, purple, yellow, green, and white and sometimes a white pink. The fascination I have with lighting is that it is really absolutely beautiful to watch and and capture. This bolt will never happen again and yet I was able to capture it's immense beauty to share with the world....

Editing

i do minor post processing with my raw files and photoshop and also sometimes have to clean water spots off the images because there may be a few rain drops that hit the lens when you are doing a long exposure.

In my camera bag

I keep it simple : Extra Batteries and a lens cloth

Feedback

You have to compensate for the intensity of the lightning by reducing the amount of light coming into the sensor, you also should shoot with a prime lens like the 50mm f1.4 or other wide prime lens like the 24 mm f1.4. Your iso should be no more then 200 and you should use live view to focus your shot and then lock it in on manual... Then you pick a segment of the sky where the most action will be. Then you use time value or shutter value depending on the make of your camera and do anywhere from a 15 second shot to 30 second shot. You just keep on taking photos of the same section of sky even if nothing happens when you click it and you will get some lightning dancing across your sensor. Sometimes you are lucky and will get a lot of bolts over a period of time and sometimes you will be lucky to just get three or 4 from the storm. You should use weather radar to check current weather conditions and to see which way the storms are moving...

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tonydatiger23

tonydatiger23

Conversations with God

This was taken in Holden Beach North Carolina at around 3 am. I was woken by a bright flash of light at around two in the mourning and even though I was tired I... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow tonydatiger23

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This was taken in Holden Beach North Carolina at around 3 am. I was woken by a bright flash of light at around two in the mourning and even though I was tired I...
Read more

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Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.