Photographing lightning is one of those moments in an amateur photographer’s career that seem nearly impossible. There are so many factors to consider that one might think, “Why bother trying in the first place?”
First of all, you need to have the right background. Lightning comes over my house nearly everyday in the summer, but I’d never try to photograph it. There are too many trees, houses and streetlights that block the view of the sky, rendering any photograph I take useless.
Because lightning is quick, you have to hold the camera perfectly still to prevent the image from becoming too blurry. Any camera shake and the moment is gone. You could use a tripod, but that’s not practical with a simple point-and-shoot camera.
And all the above assumes that you can capture the moment the lighting strikes at the precise time. Oftentimes when I have tried to photograph lightning in the past my fingers were too slow and the lightning was gone by the time the shutter closed. Lightning photography should be reserved for the pros…or so I thought.
One evening on a cruise in the Atlantic I noticed a lightning storm in the distance. I grabbed my camera and this was the result.
Pretty amazing huh? I couldn’t believe it myself. Did I do it with a fancy camera? Nope. I used my trusty Canon A610. Setting the camera on rapid fire mode, I left it on the railing of the ship and let it take off. At the end of a 15 minute period I had close to 100 photos of the horizon. Only about two of the photos were worth sharing – so I thought I would share them with you here since Orlando has been having some nasty lightning storms lately.
Being able to have a photo like that in my collection was way cool. But I learned something too. I had thought that shooting lightning was impossible and not worth the effort. But I took a chance and tried anyway and succeeded. Sure 2 out of 100 isn’t great, but it’s better than 0 out of 0. What are you giving up on without trying? Push yourself to take a risk. You just may be surprised that you too can catch lightning in a bottle.
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First off – awesome shots! Better than any other lightning shots i’ve ever got. The background thing kills me as well.
Most P&S cameras DO have a tripod mount, and that will make or break the image. The best way to go about it, if possible, is to set the camera on long exposure mode if your camera has it. Then, with the shutter open for 10, 15, maybe even 30 seconds, you’re odds of capturing a strike goes way up.
Good work, Ben. Keep it up!
Brad
Thanks for the Kudos Brad. Did I mention I was on a moving ship when the shot was taken! Fortunately I was able to get these without a long exposure, but you are correct in that increasing the exposure is a good strategy to capture lightning.