Lightning Photography Tutorial

Posted on March 12, 2014 by ShutterBug

Be Safe. Research Lightning safety Here: • http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm • Learn the basics of taking some lightning photographs. I share …

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25 Responses to Lightning Photography Tutorial

  1. skateboy159 says:
    March 12, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    what sensor is better for lightning ccd or cmos?

  2. geonerd says:
    March 12, 2014 at 5:28 pm

    Naj, others,

    The basic principle is to adjust aperture (and ISO, if absolutely
    necessary) to properly expose the lightning. You don’y want skinny wimpy
    bolts, and you usually don’t want an atomic bomb of white blasting half
    your frame. F/4 for distant or inherently faint lightning, and f/32 if the
    neighbor’s tree is now on fire.

    Now adjust the shutter time to expose clouds, trees, mountains, and
    anything else that is not lightning and will not be lit up by the lightning.

    IMO, MLU is largely a waste of time. With a sturdy tripod and the typical
    wide to normal lenses used fir lightning, shake just isn’t a problem.

    Anticipating the lightning is fun, but you can also just set continuous
    mode and Rambo away with a cable remote locking the shutter open. 

  3. Faisal Charlie says:
    March 12, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    Thanx for a nice tutorial..One question..how to focus on the lightning…

  4. Bull Winkle says:
    March 12, 2014 at 6:42 pm

    Why don’t you just use a shutter remote and set your camera on bulb?
    Instead of putting your hand in front of the lens? Putting your hands over
    the lens will not cover from light coming through. 

  6. mercedgisel says:
    March 12, 2014 at 7:57 pm

    This is AWESOME! 

  7. Rachel Akers says:
    March 12, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    Lightning Photography Tutorial!
    Lightning Photography Tutorial

  8. James McGowan says:
    March 12, 2014 at 9:28 pm

    *Lightning Photography Tutorial*
    This guy has a great youtube channel on #photography
    http://www.youtube.com/user/FontanaKnowledge

  9. sinetwo says:
    March 12, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    That’s what I was thinking. you could use bulb and just close/open
    frequently until you get something good. Alternatively you can set it to do
    continuous shooting (I can on my noob 1100d) shooting and that way you
    don’t have to worry about anything? 🙂

  10. ShallowBeThyGames says:
    March 12, 2014 at 9:47 pm

    I’ve been dying to get some decent lightning shots. Don’t get nearly enough
    lightning storms over here in the UK, but had 2 good storms this last
    month. One night I took nearly 200 shots at 20 (ish) seconds and only
    managed to catch one faint bolt on the horizon. The 2nd night I got some
    great close shots of the lightning, but completely forgot to consider my
    foregrounds which lit up like neon and spoilt the shots.

  11. Connor Moore says:
    March 12, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    How are the clouds so sharp of a long shutter speed, was they not moving?

  12. Jack Lalanne says:
    March 12, 2014 at 10:48 pm

    To use Bulb you must use Manual mode (M on your wheel), and yes you have it
    I got the same camera.

  13. superscoutman says:
    March 12, 2014 at 11:19 pm

    Would a bulb setting work as well? Less timing for a more spontaneous shot?

  14. Terry Grancho says:
    March 12, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    yeah but good spelling should be a given, if you are an adult, of course!

  15. JWhitePhotography says:
    March 12, 2014 at 11:56 pm

    First View, Comment, and Rating 🙂

  16. FontanaKnowledge says:
    March 13, 2014 at 12:36 am

    @Whatisright I don’t really have any work up anywheres as of now besides my
    facebook. I am trying to learn to upgrade my crappy website so I can have a
    portfolio on it as well as a gallery to sell prints. But I guess that is
    all in the future for now.

  17. SHOORTYS says:
    March 13, 2014 at 12:53 am

    Good info and shots! As for the burp, I only give it a 2 out of 10.

  18. Ziggy Sheppard says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:25 am

    Thanks for sharing. I’ve never tried lightning before and there are some
    thundery showers headed my way over the next day or 2.

  19. jennifer constante says:
    March 13, 2014 at 2:03 am

    You should enter your photograph in the national geographic photo contest

  20. Reza Zahiri says:
    March 13, 2014 at 2:49 am

    Very nice video, the only question that left unanswered was the focusing.
    Should I use manual focus or auto? Do we need to lock the focus manually on
    something to get good results? Thanks again

  21. KLMAirSwan says:
    March 13, 2014 at 3:32 am

    4:27 HAHAHA! 😀

  22. Nidzdotnet says:
    March 13, 2014 at 3:53 am

    @pjg0231 Video is @ 30FPS.. Won’t be anywhere near as good as capturing a
    still image with long exposure..

  23. GabriellaBazkez says:
    March 13, 2014 at 4:08 am

    what lens did you use???

  24. Naj Yksvoklam says:
    March 13, 2014 at 4:19 am

    Thanks, I will try on the next storm, nothing since.

  25. Whatisright says:
    March 13, 2014 at 4:25 am

    Awesome tut dude. Quick question what sites do you use to display your
    work. I kinda lost faith in the place I used to upload photos too.

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