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A Few Lightning Pics

SyntheticShield

SyntheticShield

New member
These are a few of the lightning pics I have captured over the last couple of storms that have come through. Nothing overly spectacular, but after having chased virtually no storms last year, Im off to a decent start so far.


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phoca_thumb_l_lightning_004_2k9a.jpg


phoca_thumb_l_lightning_010_2k9a.jpg


Enjoy.
 


UR LOSN said:
Scotty... were you wearing the Tin man costume again??????
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And using an golfers umbrella too...

RedLedbetter said:
how do you take pictures the exact second the lighting strikes??
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My reflexes are just that fast.

justwhisen said:
nice pics scotty. it looks like you were pretty close to those.
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Its intentional. In an active storm season, I will usually get 200 - 300 lightning pics but I only post, generally, the ones that are around a mile or closer to me. In fact, I go out of my way to set up near places or objects I know are prone to being struck, like this:

phoca_thumb_l_lightning0222k3a.jpg


or this:

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The tower in those pics is literally only a couple hundred feet from where I am shooting at. A few years ago I had the fortunate experience of a lightning strike hitting about 75 feet from where I was shooting. Unfortunately it was just a tick out side the field of view of the camera. You can see the white bright spot on the ground where it hit but not the lighting strike itself. However, at the time I was also doing digital audio recording and captured the aftermath of it on digital audio. So close was I to it that the strike and thunder were instantaneous and you could actually hear the air ionize as the strike happened. As well, the percussion from the resulting thunder was so intense it 'thumped' my chest. Ive been close to several strikes but that has been about the closest ever. I was so excited about it I started jumping around and shouting and nearly ruined the audio recording. I absolutely loved it and probably will never forget it.

There is a point to the madness though. When you are close enough, you can see interesting things like this:

phoca_thumb_l_lightning005a2k4.jpg


To most it would appear that the camera was out of focus on this strike and that is not the case. This is the result of what is known as the ribbon effect. In essence, the lighting strike is being blown around by high winds. You dont get to see that when you are way away from where the activity is.
 


Synthetic... nice pics. You say you chase storms? I was trying to go one summer and take my g/f to see some tornadoes. I found a few different storm chaser groups that charge to take people around. It was like $1800 though and I wasn't looking to spend that much to drive around looking for tornadoes with the chance of not seeing one at all.
 
02blackgpgt said:
wow thats awesome man. do you have pics of tornadoes and things like that too?
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I rarely chase after the tornadoes. I have been in the path of a few, mainly on scene just moments after they lift but I have never chased with the sole intention of getting tornado pictures. Ive always been WAY more interested in the lightning. I'll let the video and glory jockeys do that. I wouldnt mind doing that at some point, but mind you, twisters dont have the same impact captured by a still camera as they do when on video.


Quicklynx said:
Synthetic... nice pics. You say you chase storms? I was trying to go one summer and take my g/f to see some tornadoes. I found a few different storm chaser groups that charge to take people around. It was like $1800 though and I wasn't looking to spend that much to drive around looking for tornadoes with the chance of not seeing one at all.
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Well the chance of 'seeing' a tornado is about the same with me as it is with the tours. There are simply no guarantees and you are correct, that is a butt load of money to fork out and come away empty handed, but believe it or not they make gobs of money (the storm chase tour businesses).

Ive heard just about every reasoning out there for ones reason to chase a storm and most go something like Im interested in the scientific value. I say bull. Its the thrill, the excitement and if you're chasing the twisters, then its usually the opportunity to see your video shown on CNN or local news. Even the meterological students and professionals are out there largely for the thrill and excitement though they will rarely say that. The only chasers I know of out there for the true scientific research of it would be the operators of the DOW (Dopler On Wheels). They have the tools, the equipment and knowledge to be out there and truly collect scientific information. The only other people I can think of that have noble intentions would be the trained storm spotters. I meet them from time to time and been able to talk to them and they truly put themselves in harms way in many cases to give the weather service and thus the public advance notice of trouble.

As for me, well I like the excitement as well, its fun and I get to sharpen my photography skills. Unlike normal still photograpy, you are constantly having to adapt, particularly with regards to camera settings because of the changing intensity, proximity, etc. of the lightning strikes. Additionally, lightning, to me at least, has very much an artistic and beauty flare to it. No two strikes are alike, even when they occur within milli seconds of each other. Even before I had all the camera gear I do, I would chase storms, get in the middle of them and just watch the lightning.
 
That's awesome. I love storms, and yes, to chase a twister would be a huge thrill.

My g/f and I find lightning storms to be very romantic. We have clear view in the back of my house of some small mountains so when a storm brews we like to cuddle outside and watch the lightning strike from a distance over the mountains. Unfortunately I am moving to a place closer to work and a little cheaper, and it definitely does not have a gorgeous view.

Hey, if I rent a hotel in the area, you want to take my g/f and I around to do some storm chasing? You'd know the area. If you want to stop and take pictures of nice formations or lightning or something, I wouldn't stop you or mind at all. I'd be more satisfied than paying almost $2k for a non-guaranteed tornado sighting. We just need to get away from Maryland for awhile. I plan on taking her to Chatanooga, TN next month, and probably look at a few houses down in that area.

I think twisters can have some awesome impact when on the still camera. Eric Nguyen's most famous photograph which is gorgeous.

http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/wichita-ks-j2004tornado.JPG
 
I would love to do so. There have been a few on here that have expressed an interest in going out on a chase with me. The problem with that is that me getting time off from work to do so. In order to chase, Im usually pretty sleep deprived. Ive have before, left work went out chased a storm pretty much all evening and into the wee hours, come back to work and park in the parking lot just so I could get an hour or two of sleep before having to be back to work.

In addition to that, the long term outlook from here until the first of May is not particularly good:

threats.gif


March and April tend to be the most active months of the storm season and then it falls off from there until about August. The storms that come through during that time are more intense and active, there's just fewer of them. Then in August it picks back up again a little and then falls off about October, though I have chased storms clear into Missouri in November before. Also, the storms that come through about this time are primarily daytime storms and then die off in the evening hours because the ground temperature is not such that it gives off a lot of heat to support the storms. In a month or two, that will change and the storms will form more in the afternoon hours and carry on throughout the night.

Id be more than happy to have the company just understand the conditions are somewhat against us at this point and it can be very much a boring adventure at times with the driving, though if we were to hook up and go on a chase I can pretty much assure you that you will see lightning up close and personal like you have probably not seen it before. I am usually right in the middle of the action. Usually so close that anyone not used to it becomes 'jumpy' from all the close impacts.

Probably what I need to start doing is watching the reports and weather data a bit closer trying to get an idea of when the storms will be active in the area and then announce on here that Im planning a chase at such and such time.

So in short, you are welcome to come, but I think the timing may be a bit off. May can be a good month for storms, but its a hit or miss venture.
 


Actually August sounds like a great time to set something up. That gives me time to plan out and set some money aside for it. Driving isn't a problem. I'll have my GP and enjoy cruising around. I was at my friends house last night until 2am. They all went to bed and said I could sleep on their couch and just leave when they leave for work in the morning. Well it started pouring so I decided to drive home in it because for some reason, I like cruising in the rain. I'm expecting a lot of weather downtime so I wouldn't be disappointed at all. Maybe some other owners would like to get in on this. If August doesn't like a good month then no harm in waiting until next March April, although those are school months, may be tough, but spring break is always in late March.

Up close lightning strikes sounds like a pretty awesome thrill. I would like to experience that. I'm sure Courtney would as well... but probably be a little freaked.
 
Truthfully, August seems like a good month to do it as well. I dont think we would have to do a lot of driving, most of my prime locations and my most favorite spot of all time is within 30 miles of where I live.

Maybe we could set up a yearly GPF.net Storm Chase. Though being in August may pose an issue with BGPM being in September. I could possibly give some pointers, show people how to capture lighting with their camera and so on. It could be interesting and fun. We'd just have to make dang sure everything is coordinated well then pray the weather treats us to some nice events.
 
Sounds like an awesome plan. I may be able to go to Branson this year, but school in September usually takes up some time making it hard.
 


well there is a good place here in Poteau to catch those shots. Cavanah Hill(mountain) its a thousand foot tall hill with tons of towers on it. its also the tallest thing around here south of the arkansas river. you can literely see for fifty miles on a clear day.
 
justwhisen said:
well there is a good place here in Poteau to catch those shots. Cavanah Hill(mountain) its a thousand foot tall hill with tons of towers on it. its also the tallest thing around here south of the arkansas river. you can literely see for fifty miles on a clear day.
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That sounds like a place I'll have to visit.
 
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