Topic: Lightning in a bottle... (Page 1 of 1)

... Or just on film will work for now.
One of our rare storms (the ones with rain) came through this past weekend and I happened to have the DC from the CS lab with me, so in an effort to maybe learn something, (preferably about photography and not the best way to get hit by lightning) I stood out on the patio, (next to the flagpole of course) and shot a few pictures until my hair on my arms started standing on end (perhaps that had something to do with the flagpole?).

Most of the pictures turned out rather dark/unfocused/etc, as I expected, but a couple weren't so bad, which surprised me. However, I happen to really like this one in particular. So that's the one I picked to have you all pick apart, let me know what's wrong with it, and maybe (if you're in a good mood) offer some suggestions for next time.

The original was really bright (duh, it's lightning), so I went through The GIMP and adjusted the levels a bit to make it a bit easier on the eyes.

Click for (very) big versions...

Original ^


Edited ^


So, yea...
(BTW, this was an 8 second exposure)

And I'm starting to go through all the tutorials that were posted here as well...

[edit: Helps if I get the right links...

[This message has been edited by Lord_Fukutoku (edited 06-10-2003).]

I really like the original photo. The tweak seems overly saturated to me.

I like it a lot better with more mild Levels. I tried input (22 .80 255) output (0 255) and really liked the result.

Naturally, your tastes may differ

amazing, you lucky dog, that's some powerful stuff. I'm asuming it was at least pretty overcast since it was storming but that orchard looks like it's sitting in the noon-day sun, that is so cool.

Jason

Ohhhh, very nice. I want to sneak out on some rainy night and get some photos like that sometime. We haven't had any good lightning shows in Kansas in a while.

I like the second the best but I think I would have masked off the ground before I adjusted the levels.

:::krets.net:::

Thanks for those comments
Means a lot coming from you all, especially after watching what makes it into the POW's.

Das - Yea, I played with all the settings and tweaks I could find for an hour or two before I found something that I liked as a whole. The only thing that still kinda bugs me about it is the tree branch in the top right corner... That I agree is far too saturated...

JK - Heh, it was just about pitch black when I shot that Complete overcast, around 9:30 - 10:00 PM (That might explain why most of the other shots turned out so dark )

krets - We just had another great lightning show (with no rain) the night before last, but I didn't have the camera with me then...
I'll have to try using a mask when I go back to it this weekend, thanks for the pointer. (In no way do I even start to claim I know what I'm doing when it comes to any graphics work.)

Oi. I've done this once or twice. If you wander over to weststock.com and do a search you should find some of my lightning pix there somewhere. The thing to remember with stuff like that is that lightning sets it's own exposure. It's all about aperture. If it's really close and bright you may want to stop her all the way down to f8 or so.. but that's rare. Usually f5.6 will get close.. open her up wide for distant telephoto stuff. If there's any significant ambient light in the scene then you need to balance your exposure around an appropriate aperture for the lightning. Keep notes and after a while you'll get a feel for it.. kinda. Shoot slides!

And the rain always blows directly away from the lightning.

Ah ha, that's what I was looking for, more or less. Thanks Cy