Big Storm...Big Lightning

[coloradoamigo]

I had to stay up late to get this shot, it was taken at almost 2AM this morning, but I think it was worth it. I got a few others, but nothing like this one. Alot of it was just cloud lightning.

[Speed]

I had to stay up late to get this shot, it was taken at almost 2AM this morning, but I think it was worth it. I got a few others, but nothing like this one. Alot of it was just cloud lightning.

Hehehe. I was up until after 1:00 am taking my lightning shots. :-O

Great shot my friend! Definitely worth staying up for! And you've got a much more interesting foreground than I've got. Fabulous shot - don't be surprised when folks start asking for copies of it!

P.S. I am VERY jealous. ;-)

[Kokopeli]

Was this shot with you new D70? What kind of exposure time are we looking at here?

Great work B!!!
~Brian
Nikon Samurai #3

[Spike]

That's a great shot! As asked below, tech specs please.

There was a thunderstorm in Calgary last night too. It started just as I was going to bed, and I briefly thought of Speed's lightning pics and how I would like to attempt some myself...but I had to go do bed. Really need my sleep right now. Oh well, next time!

Spike

I had to stay up late to get this shot, it was taken at almost 2AM this morning, but I think it was worth it. I got a few others, but nothing like this one. Alot of it was just cloud lightning.

[Speed]

That's a great shot! As asked below, tech specs please.

There was a thunderstorm in Calgary last night too. It started just as I was going to bed, and I briefly thought of Speed's lightning pics and how I would like to attempt some myself...but I had to go do bed. Really need my sleep right now. Oh well, next time!

Spike

That's no excuse!

It takes sacrifice to be great!

Which is why John Shaw gets paid to take landscape photo's and I don't. I can stay up late a lot easier than I can get up early. :-O

Actually I can get up early for special occasions - like the Venus transit. But doing it on a daily basis would take a bit getting used to.

But I digress...no excuses from now on!

;-)

[coloradoamigo]

Yes, sometimes I'm a late-nighter, even on work days. This night, I actually wanted to go to bed earlier, but I saw the storm brewing to the north on radar and heading my way, so I said what the hell, I'll see if it holds together. It not only held together, it got stronger. We had been having storms like this all week, but nothing I could get a shot of, with them passing just a little too far out for any decent images. This storm came right over us.

Thanks again Penny!!

So you're up at 2:00 a.m. too huh? You got a great shot here Brian.

Well done!

Best to You,
Penny

[coloradoamigo]

Now we're even. I am VERY jealous of your astrophotography shots!! ;)
Thanks for the kind words Robert!!

Hehehe. I was up until after 1:00 am taking my lightning shots. :-O

Great shot my friend! Definitely worth staying up for! And you've got a much more interesting foreground than I've got. Fabulous shot - don't be surprised when folks start asking for copies of it!

P.S. I am VERY jealous. ;-)

[coloradoamigo]

This was shot with the D70. To tell you the truth, I haven't used the N80 since I got the DSLR. I do plan on keeping it though and shooting B/W with it. My friend Bob used it other day though, so it has gotten some use.
On to the settings. I'll just post all the exif data here, it's easier that way. Post-process, as you see I shot it with WB Sunny, which is 5200 Kelvin. I upped that to 5500 in NC, but I'm thinking of backing that back down to 5200 or maybe lower. I think I want it to be cooler, I'm not sure. I used Komin's custom curve, which I think is excellent. I also had sharpening set to normal. I backed that down to low, then resized and sharpened in PS. I then resized again for web posting, and sharpened very lightly again, which I should not have done, as there is a bit of a black halo thing going on around some of the lightning. The original or my larger version does not have this.
Set-up was pretty basic. Tripod, set the camera to manual, set focus to infinity. At f/8 the camera was telling me the correct exposure was around 30 secs on the dark sky, so I set it at 20 seconds. Set the timer to release the shutter after 2 seconds. It was all up to the Man upstairs at that point.
Anyways, enough of my typing, here are the settings:

Nikon D70
Focal Length: 24mm
Optimize Image: Custom
Color Mode: Mode IIIa (sRGB)
Noise Reduction: OFF
2004/06/21 01:51:52.8
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Direct sunlight
Tone Comp: User-Defined Custom Curve
RAW (12-bit) Lossless
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
AF Mode: Manual
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
20 sec - F/8
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Saturation: Normal
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sharpening: Normal
Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 G
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Image Comment:

Thanks for the wonderful comments Brian!!
(PS, I think I qualify as a Nikon Samurai, which # are we on?)

Was this shot with you new D70? What kind of exposure time are we looking at here?

Great work B!!!
~Brian
Nikon Samurai #3

[coloradoamigo]

and probably more info than anyone cared for. ;)

Believe me, even though I am a late-nighter, I wanted to go to bed, but I had been trying all week to get a shot, and this storm looked like my best opportunity, so I waited (impatiently) for it to arrive and hope that I didn't stay up for nothing.

Thanks Spike!!

That's a great shot! As asked below, tech specs please.

There was a thunderstorm in Calgary last night too. It started just as I was going to bed, and I briefly thought of Speed's lightning pics and how I would like to attempt some myself...but I had to go do bed. Really need my sleep right now. Oh well, next time!

Spike

[Kokopeli]

Nikon Samurai #5!

Speed =#1
MTBBrian =#2
Me =#3
Waltrick =#4
You (coloradoamigo) =#5

It is also looking like this is an elite group of Brians...

Welcome to the fold Brian-san!
~B

[Speed]

This was shot with the D70. To tell you the truth, I haven't used the N80 since I got the DSLR. I do plan on keeping it though and shooting B/W with it. My friend Bob used it other day though, so it has gotten some use.
On to the settings. I'll just post all the exif data here, it's easier that way. Post-process, as you see I shot it with WB Sunny, which is 5200 Kelvin. I upped that to 5500 in NC, but I'm thinking of backing that back down to 5200 or maybe lower. I think I want it to be cooler, I'm not sure. I used Komin's custom curve, which I think is excellent. I also had sharpening set to normal. I backed that down to low, then resized and sharpened in PS. I then resized again for web posting, and sharpened very lightly again, which I should not have done, as there is a bit of a black halo thing going on around some of the lightning. The original or my larger version does not have this.
Set-up was pretty basic. Tripod, set the camera to manual, set focus to infinity. At f/8 the camera was telling me the correct exposure was around 30 secs on the dark sky, so I set it at 20 seconds. Set the timer to release the shutter after 2 seconds. It was all up to the Man upstairs at that point.
Anyways, enough of my typing, here are the settings:

Nikon D70
Focal Length: 24mm
Optimize Image: Custom
Color Mode: Mode IIIa (sRGB)
Noise Reduction: OFF
2004/06/21 01:51:52.8
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Direct sunlight
Tone Comp: User-Defined Custom Curve
RAW (12-bit) Lossless
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
AF Mode: Manual
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
20 sec - F/8
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Saturation: Normal
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sharpening: Normal
Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 G
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Image Comment:

Thanks for the wonderful comments Brian!!
(PS, I think I qualify as a Nikon Samurai, which # are we on?)

Geez! That is incredible. They have come a long way with digital sensors!

That D70 is looking better every day. I might have to get one....one day.

[coloradoamigo]

I think Natalie (natabeach) is #5.....so I declare myself Nikon Samurai # 6!!!

Thank you Brian-san!!

Nikon Samurai #5!

Speed =#1
MTBBrian =#2
Me =#3
Waltrick =#4
You (coloradoamigo) =#5

It is also looking like this is an elite group of Brians...

Welcome to the fold Brian-san!
~B

[coloradoamigo]

I don't see any difference. Oh, I suppose it might make a difference if one were to do a really long exposure, but with my exposure it doesn't make a difference. Also, with NR on in-camera, it takes the camera forever to process the image, instead of the usual instant response from the D70. So it's a waste of time literally as well.

Here's another for ya Robert, this is the same image, except cropped to focus on the two strikes. I also adjusted the kelvin temp down to 5000K, with the image I originally posted at 5500K.
What do you think, warmer or cooler?

Geez! That is incredible. They have come a long way with digital sensors!

That D70 is looking better every day. I might have to get one....one day.

[natatbeach]

the loss of sleep...awesome!

and btw Brian said I could be #3 so I want to be 3-a

but I'll be #5 if I have to...

don't I get anything for being the "neediest and highest maintenance" Samurai? (well other than Rick of course)

[I_Fly]

both versions are awesome. The magnitude of the lightning and how it fills the sky in the uncropped version is amazing but the crop really intensifies the power of the larger bolt. It's an awesome shot! Well worth your time and effort to stay up late.

I'm not even going to comment about the samurai thing...it just sounds like a bunch of trouble-makers to me!

[coloradoamigo]

for the kind words. It's hard to keep up with the samurai thing, but I'm sticking to 6 unless someone tells me different!!

the loss of sleep...awesome!

and btw Brian said I could be #3 so I want to be 3-a

but I'll be #5 if I have to...

don't I get anything for being the "neediest and highest maintenance" Samurai? (well other than Rick of course)

[coloradoamigo]

for the encouraging words!! I like both versions as well, just can't decide whether I like it cooler or warmer.

both versions are awesome. The magnitude of the lightning and how it fills the sky in the uncropped version is amazing but the crop really intensifies the power of the larger bolt. It's an awesome shot! Well worth your time and effort to stay up late.

I'm not even going to comment about the samurai thing...it just sounds like a bunch of trouble-makers to me!

[kkraczek]

Hey Brian, I like the warmer one better, for the range of color it provides. Beautiful photos!

[Liz]

Gee, I thought you just posted these today! How did I miss them?

At any rate, these are awesome! Beautiful color/contrast. Excellent work. It was worth staying up most of the night, IMO! These are about the best images of lightening I remember seeing. Beautiful ;)

I'm glad the post got reactivated and I didn't miss them.

Liz

Hey Brian, I like the warmer one better, for the range of color it provides. Beautiful photos!

[coloradoamigo]

the comments are much appreciated!! I think I'm leaning towards the warmer tone as well. I think it's the one closer to reality, but I just don't know. Lightning happens so fast and it could be just one bolt or many, so it's hard to tell what color the sky is at the time. I can tell you this, I had no idea how much lightning was in the sky until I looked at the LCD. I couldn't believe my luck. This may be one of those very rare times where the picture is better than seeing it as it happens. My eye did not catch everything in the sky, that's for sure.

Hey Brian, I like the warmer one better, for the range of color it provides. Beautiful photos!

[coloradoamigo]

I very much appreciate the kind words. I'm glad you didn't miss them. I brought the thread back to life after a week because my wife and I went to Reno/Lake Tahoe for vacation. So be looking for some pictures from that vacation soon.
Did you end up going to B&H for your CF card? After I posted about that and mentioned shipping, I remembered that you could just go straight to the store!!
Let me tell you, my wife is VERY happy that I can't just drive to the store. ;)

Gee, I thought you just posted these today! How did I miss them?

At any rate, these are awesome! Beautiful color/contrast. Excellent work. It was worth staying up most of the night, IMO! These are about the best images of lightening I remember seeing. Beautiful ;)

I'm glad the post got reactivated and I didn't miss them.

Liz

[awkwards]

Thank you for posting this info, Brian. You've answered a number of questions I've always wondered about lightning shots.

Best regards,

James

[coloradoamigo]

if you think of anything more you need to know, just ask.

Thank you for posting this info, Brian. You've answered a number of questions I've always wondered about lightning shots.

Best regards,

James