Lightning is one of my favorite subjects to photograph in nature. It’s both challenging and rewarding to capture a detailed bolt without overexposing the image.

For those that would like to try to photograph lightning, first make sure you are in a safe place. The safest place is outside of the storm itself, but if you happen to be caught in the storm, use your best judgment and stay away from large objects such as trees, power lines, and anything else that will attract the wrath of the storm. Also, make sure you’re not the tallest object around.

You’ll need to use a tripod and shoot long exposure shots anywhere from 2-30 seconds. If either the lightning or sky is too bright, consider using a Neutral Density filter to prevent as much light entering your lens. Use the manual focus and set it to infinity (it’s a good idea to figure out how to do this before you’re in the middle of the storm). Play with the aperture settings to meet your situation. You may find that a wide open aperture is best, but that might over expose your shot if they’re blasting close by. Use your shortest focal length so that you’re covering more sky, and don’t be afraid to continually have a picture in the works. I took about 130 pictures and ended up with about 5 good ones, a few over exposed ones, a few really small sparks, and a whole lot of duds.

If your camera is compatible with a remote, that’s a good idea too. The picture will be even more steady because the camera can shake slightly when you press the shutter button. It will also allow you to have your camera set up in the right position, while you’re somewhere safe. You can also buy covers for your camera to keep it from getting wet.

The above image of the lightning bolt was captured with an aperture of F/6.3 and a shutter speed of 2 seconds using an ND filter and a tripod. Also, The Lens Flare has many more examples of lightning bolts for you to view.

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Brian Broderick is a semi-professional nature photographer living in northern Utah. Frequently, his nature photography trips include the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges and the southern Utah deserts. He is the owner of The Lens Flare, a popular community of fellow photographers and artists.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Landscape Photography, Nature Photography, Outdoor Photography, Photography, Weather Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.