Some pics of lightning! (and planet uranus)

[SpeedingSphere]

Well today it was extremely hot and we were having problems with everything it seemed. It was 105 out at one point today.. Eesh! My internet was out, then the power went out. The power came back but the internet was still out, as well as the TV and phone line which both also went out. Then at around 8:30, a big storm rolled in and cooled it all off. Got some cool shots of the lightning that struck from it. Went back inside and all was well with technology.. lol..

Shots were taken on my 40D+Canon EF-S 10-22mm. 25 second exposures, ISO 100, F/4.5, a range of 10-22mm in all the shots.













and on a side note: I got an awesome shot of the planet Uranus with its 4 moons. :-) It's two shots in one. The left has an over exposed Uranus. The right has the properly exposed one photoshopped over the over exposed one.

[susaan]

Love the lightening shots...thanks for posting the settings,too...
I better keep quiet about Uranus...can barely shoot the moon,too much city light pollution.
Have a great trip ..will be there in Oct..try to see Istanbul,if you get a chance,
its great shooting.

[retroactiv]

I love uranus (sorry I had to do it). Good job on the lightning .

[gracie_r]

Very cool shots! I'd love to try to get some lightning ones sometime.

[F-117HWK]

Hey Mike,

Great shots. So for the lightning shots I assume you had it on a tripod then set the exposure time to 25sec? I am still learning all the ins and outs of the 40D and was wondering also where you would change that.

Also, how do u like the 10-22 lens? Im debating between that and the Sigma 10-22 and wondering if the Canon is worth the extra $150-200. PM me if you would like

Thanks!

[SpeedingSphere]

To change the shutter speed, I went to the M mode on the dial and turned the dial wheel to the left until it said 25". It was set on a tripod and I just kept clicking it until I had a shot with the lightning in it.

I read reviews between the 10-22 Canon vs the 10-20mm Sigma for about 3 weeks straight and I went for the canon because it had better sharpness at the edges(and this copy does extraordinarily well on the edges compared to reviews I read. L quality for sure!) and a more manageable chromatic aberration problem. In my eyes, that is worth the extra $. If you have more questions, feel free to pm me and I'll help you out.

Thanks for all of your comments!

susaan; I'll be visiting Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Capri, and Sicily. Touring the coast of Italy and then returning back to Barcelona to fly back home. It's going to be an awesome trip. I've got myself worried about pickpockets though. I've read they're quite vicious at almost every stop we're hitting.