WHAT A SHOW!!

[Kiya]

Last night for nearly two hours we were treated to an unexpected spectacular show of lighting & thunder .

It first started way out above the sea & as it went on it got nearer to the coastline & above our heads before heading south above the town.

The thunder roars went on for ages, I've never heard it like this in such a long time but, what a show.

Roy asked me if I was going to take some photos but hey ho! no chance was I going to open my windows to that, it was ding donging down at such a rate.

Here is a few photos a friend manage to get

[Grandad]

Fantastic Kiya. Congratulate your friend on some great photos especially the first one ...Brilliant

[Horus]

Your friend did very well to get those photos as lightning although spectacular to watch is usually very brief, so well done them
I love a good thunderstorm and when I lived in Africa I looked forward to the rainy season when we would get one every day without fail. It would flash and crash all around us and once over it blew the cooker socket off the wall It was not uncommon to see several bolts of lightning hitting the ground very close to you and even running across the ground. We have just had two really lovely days weather wise and up to 25C in some areas, it is still good weather at the moment and I am in my shorts and a light cotton shirt, but this morning around 8 am there was a huge thunderclap and a heavy downpour for several minutes that cooled the air a bit, but as I type it is now back to being glorious sunny weather.

[Kiya]

Cheers folks I wish I could have taken so good photos..............I still haven't worked out how to

Horus having a socket blown from the wall would have scared me stiff

After all that, we waken to a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies

[LovelyLadyLux]

Lightening strikes can be pretty spectacular and I've heard thunder that is just deadening. We rarely get that type of lightening strike here (we do but very rare) instead we get what is referred to as sheet lightening.

Good photos! The first is pretty spectacular but the second one making a circle is pretty interesting.

[Kiya]

Another one somebody else in town took



Truly amazing...............I'll have to get my head around how to take lighting shots..........ready for the next time

[Horus]

That shot is fabulous Kiya
Basically Kiya you need to set up your camera on a tripod pointing in the direction of the storm, set the aperture at around F8 and give each shot a long exposure time, say about 30 seconds each. As soon as you see a flash of lightening that is enough as it will have registered on your camera sensor, so that is when you end the exposure by once again pressing the shutter. By switching your camera in the 'Bulb' mode setting and doing as I have just explained you should be able to get something. You need to have the long exposure to increase your chances of a lightening flash occuring during the time the shutter is open, but too long an exposure will over expose the image that is why you should stop the exposure after seeing the first flash.This is also the reason for saying around 30 seconds duration, the idea being that you keep taking a series of 30 second duration exposures (or less if you see a flash) and hope to get lucky with some of them.

This link may explain things abit better:
http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/ti ... ing-storm/

Edit: I am of the opinion that your last image may be stacked multiple exposures or maybe some technique of recording several flashes over a much longer exposure by using filters as there seems too much activity for a single strike, but hey, who knows and its still a belting image.

[Kiya]

Thanks for the link, will read it later I'm not expecting a show tonight but, you never know

Watching the weather forecast it looks like more down the west coastline were having lightning too last night.

Yip I tend to agree with you on the last pic, it does seem to be a tad too much for a normal strike

[LovelyLadyLux]

The last photo is pretty spectacular!

[Kiya]

Horus , As it's not a day for going out I've had a read through the link you gave for lightning.

All seems straight forward but it's the doing will probably catch me out

I also read you can take photos of lightning from your car as long as it has a metal roof I always thought it was safe because of the rubber tyres

[Horus]

It is the fact that being surrounded my metal acts as a 'Faraday cage'' and insulates you from the lightning. Just so long as you are the lowest point on the landscape you are fairly safe, don't laugh, but if I was caught out on open water when fishing in Africa, I would often jump into the water so as to be lower than the boat if a good thunderstorm broke out.

[Kiya]

Mmmmmm learn something everyday...................don't fancy jumping into the water here though.....Brrrrrrrr

[Horus]

don't fancy jumping into the water here though.....Brrrrrrrr

Cold wasn't the problem out there Kiya, it was ............. Crocodiles