How to Photograph Lightning
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How to Photograph Lightning
Introduction
Capturing that awesome lightning shot is a dream of many photographers. It takes timing, patience and perseverance. It can be done digitally or with filma??as long as your camera has a "bulb" setting, you're good to go. You'll probably shoot quite a few dead frames before you get a good shot, but there are techniques that work.
Instructions
Difficulty: Challenging
Steps
1
Step One
Study the weather patterns in your area so you'll know the best place get a good view to shoot. Watch a particular storm before shooting. See where the lightning is, how far away and what type it is. This makes it easier to predict where the next strike will be.
2
Step Two
Find your spot and make sure it's a safe place. You don't want to run the risk of getting struck.
3
Step Three
Mount your camera on a tripod and attach the cable release. Make sure your tripod is on level ground and not at risk for movement.
4
Step Four
Turn off auto focus. Set your camera to infinity or manually focus it.
5
Step Five
Set your camera to the "bulb" setting so you can get a long exposure.
6
Step Six
Choose your F/Stop. This could be tricky, and you may have to try a few different ones to get the right setting. F/8 will allow you to do longer exposures.
7
Step Seven
Press down the cable release and hold it until the lightning appears. Depending on the surrounding lights, you could keep your shutter open up to 5 minutes.
Tips & Warnings
- For best results, shoot lightning at night in a remote area away from city lights.
- You can either close the shutter after the strike or leave it open to capture multiple strikes in the same frame. This technique could also be used when shooting fireworks.
- Do not risk getting struck. Try to find the safest place possible.
Overall Things You'll Need
- Tripod
- Cable release
- 100 speed film (or less)
- Flashlight
- Good manual control camera with bulb mode or time exposure mode