Lightning Show

[Isac]

Massive storms here in Perth overnight, with the best at 4am. These are from my front yard overlooking the home across the street. It's not often I get a reasonable shot of lightning but I think these should pass.

#1

#2

#3

#4

[seaslug]

Yes, there's some scary ones there Isac. You've caught them well. Did the thunder shake the camera in #1 or is that you shaking?

[Isac]

Thanks for that Greg. All hand held using bulb mode, so camera shake is responsible for the blur. Relatively easy to take though using bulb.

[loose cannon]

Hand held!?!

Impressive. Tripod all the way for me with lightning Isac. Well done.

[Isac]

Great to get your comments Mike. Just had the camera resting on my tummy and trying not to move too much. Quite a variety of exposure times. Just held the shutter down and let go when I saw the flash of lightning. I was only partially awake at 4am so next time I'll be ready with the tripod and remote trigger. I was going to use the new Canon 10-18 lens but couldn't see how to set the focus to infinity - so used the Tamron 17-50.

#1 - 16 seconds
#2 - 1 second
#3 - 3 seconds
#4 - 6 seconds

[wacko-ocker]

great work especially that time of the morning and hand held

[Isac]

Thanks Wacko. I didn't know at the time that it was going to be a long show. I would have set up the tripod and remote trigger. BUT at 4am it's not my best decision making time

[P Plates]

Very impressive for hand held Isac. Those strikes look a little too close for comfort though. Shooting lightning that close scares me a bit.

[Isac]

Thanks P Plates. The strikes were a fair way off so it was safe enough. Lots of thunder and dogs roaming around the streets. Rain followed about 1/2 hour later with record falls in our area of about 20mm.

[Eden]

I was going to use the new Canon 10-18 lens but couldn't see how to set the focus to infinity

CanonEF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens ??????????? (I have just gone all woozy at the knees)
And the reviews are great



cheers for that , Eden

(ps what was the issue with focus?)

[Isac]

Thank you Eden. The problem with the 10-18 is that everything through the viewfinder is so small (even zooming in) that infinity is near impossible to set. It is still a great lens for the price so I will do some experimenting with it.

[Eden]

I know you will read this and think ( no **** sherlock ) but with this lens I would set the canon (7d? in your case?) to live view along with the 5x and 10x magnification buttons then using the circle to move the focus/metering point to the top of the candle pine while still maintaining your shot or capture framing (in 10x magnification you will get detail) in this example and using a torch or adjust exposure time and aperture to half press the shutter button to get focus and then just hand adjust (you would then be nearer the close end to infinity focus at this point so the lens focus turns to the closest end ) a little past this spot for a long exposure/large aperture shot to test peak at with.

or just go f22 or whatever the lens is capable of and work your way up with exposure time towards "Bulb" after using live view.

I wouldn,t normally state the maybe bleeding obvious and dont want to offend
but a friend only discovered live view used along with 5x and 10x magnification recently and I was blown away when he told me he had only just discovered it as I dumbly assumed this was baby step stuff ( he is way, far, more, techno than me) and he had helped me get off the dreaded green square and use nothing but the magic "M" setting (cheers Evan if you ever read this)

Sorry If you already knew all this Isac !

I love that lens, the reviews are awesome to say the least.

I only recently decided to stay with the crop (70D) sensor and was happy enough that all my EFS lenses wouldnt be redundant if I didnt go the 6D,

Seeing your post mention the 10-18 (and then reading the reviews) made me smile so hard my earring dropped out!

cheers Eden

[Isac]

Thank you for the lengthy reply Eden. I have used the live view and 10x magnifying to get manual focus for some time now and its good for normal shooting. However, when it's pitch black at night, it's very difficult. My main problem with the 10-18mm is that it has no markings to indicate where the lens is set to. And the focus ring is just a rotating ring that has no stop positions - it sort of just floats, not being a "set and forget" type. If you do get the focus to infinity by more good luck than expertise, then the slightest touch will move the focus point. That particular lens is absolutely fabulous but I reckon focus stops would have made it a bigger seller. I do believe that any ultra wide angle lens (which is mainly used for WIDE ANGLE) should incorporate this feature. I will keep experimenting - and if i find the true infinity focus point I will gaffer it in position.

[Alan]

Amazing photos Isac, but with that lens they look WAY too close for comfort/safety. But I wasn't there so I don't know

I refer to Dragonfly's Sticky on Photographing Lightning. (I wouldn't be buying lottery tickets anytime soon as I suspect you may have used up a fair amount of luck getting these pics.)


http://www.ausph.com/forum/photoholi...-photographers

As Dragonfly says..

"Lightning will target you regardless of what is around you, poles, trees, towers etc. Remove yourself from the menu and yes, it will strike static objects. Essentially, humans form a part of the huge electrical field surrounding a thunderstorm. Place yourself under or around a thunder storm, as I do, then risks are ten fold and chances are you will be struck and remember, lightning can travel up to 20km and while you think you are far enough away, be sure that you are."

"The advice is, if you can see lightning or hear thunder, stay inside."

People down the road from us buried one of their horses last week after it was struck by lightning.

Please stay safe - (we have so few members as it is)

[Isac]

Thanks for your comments Alan and for your concern for my safety. The strikes were about 40km north of us so we felt quite safe. These storms were very unusual as they lingered for hours giving everybody a real good chance to practice their lightning shots. Much appreciated Alan - thanks.