Lightning Bolt

[WJT]

Storm Chasing is like fishing, you have to keep going back again and again until you get the rewards. But when you do its thrilling. This shot was the most prolific of the 2013/14 season in Darwin for me. Taken from a 10 second exposure @ ISO 100 and F:3.5. I nearly lost this shot because of its extreme light but was able to recover it in editing. It's a unique strike in that it go from cloud to ground and cloud to cloud. C&C welcome

[chauncey]

That, my friend, is a stellar shot!

[Mike Buckley]

I would caption this "Lightning Tree."

Just out of curiosity, how can you tell that the lightning is going from cloud to ground rather than from ground to cloud? I know lightning goes in either direction and have always wondered how one knows which way it is going.

[Downrigger]

Spectacular.
I'm guessing Mike, that the inference of direction derives from the pattern of dendritic elaboration - i.e. branches diverge from the point of origin, rather than converge on it. "Guessing" perhaps the operative word in that sentence.

[WJT]

I would caption this "Lightning Tree."

Just out of curiosity, how can you tell that the lightning is going from cloud to ground rather than from ground to cloud? I know lightning goes in either direction and have always wondered how one knows which way it is going.

Hi Mike, ll lightning starts in the clouds and is caused when the hot air rises through convection. As it cools it freezes and causes friction. The lightning generally starts by moving from cloud to cloud but needs an earth to strike the ground. It looks for a leader which can come from a tree, a pole, a blade of grass or from one of your hairs (hope not). Once it hits earth it can return which is what your talking about but most of us wouldn't recognise it when we see it. Only a serious weather geek can pick them.

[WJT]

That, my friend, is a stellar shot!

Cheers mate, I'm a little bit happy with it too.

[John 2]

That's a great catch Wayne. Patience rewarded.

[IzzieK]

WoW! is just a word too hard to described what you did here. Simply stunning! I once had a friend (a design engineer) in California who built me a lightning trigger for my Nikon F801. Nowadays you can buy one for a digital camera too.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for the info, Wayne.

You inspired me to go to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration web site. Apparently almost all of the lightning that we see is the charge that goes from the earth to the clouds. That's because the negative charge can't be seen and almost all charges going from clouds to earth are negative; only the positive charge can be seen and almost all charges going from earth to clouds are positive.

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Wayne,very nice shot Do you think ND filters can help such extreme light ?

[Kyle]

Wow, great capture! It's really neat to see the arc of the lighting.

[FootLoose]

Spectacular, Wayne. The amber lights work well against the purplish sky, too.

[Stagecoach]

Now that's a striking shot Wayne, well done.

[WJT]

Hi Wayne,very nice shot Do you think ND filters can help such extreme light ?

Thanks Binmur, at night its tough to use them and you never know when you get a big flash. I took several others which didn't even need editing. I generally use a polariser during day time. I know someone who uses an ND, but I have never used one (yet).

[WJT]

Thanks for the info, Wayne.

You inspired me to go to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration web site. Apparently almost all of the lightning that we see is the charge that goes from the earth to the clouds. That's because the negative charge can't be seen and almost all charges going from clouds to earth are negative; only the positive charge can be seen and almost all charges going from earth to clouds are positive.

Thanks Mike, now I will have to re-visit my information source and check it out. I suppose we only consider what we can see (especially as photographers). I will have a read of your link. Thanks for posting it.

[deetheturk]

Wonderful capture Wayne!