Proper Technique for Lightning

[Suzan J]

I have never tried to photograph lightning until this afternoon when a very active thunderstorm arrived. I had very little time to prepare. This is the only shot I was able to get. I know it is not very good, but on the "up side", things can only get better. Right?

Another boomer is slated to arrive early this evening so I'm hoping to get some tips before then.

These are the settings and technique I used. How can this be improved?

ISO at 100
Aperture f14
SS 6 seconds
Focal Length 30 mm
Tripod (no remote)
Tiffen ND filter 1.2 (equivalent to 4 stops)

I pointed the camera toward the sky from where the storm was coming. I used manual focus on my Nikon 18 to 140 mm lens. From what I have read, I am supposed to "focus at infinity", but of course, there is no infinity mark on this lens. I simply pointed the lens at a hill in the distance and tried to manually focus on that landmark. I then left the focus where it was and pointed to the sky.

Coincidentally, the spot where I focused on the hill landed the focus dial just about to the extreme right hand side. I did read somewhere that focusing to infinity on a lens that does not have the mark is achieved by turning the focus dial all the way to the right and then coming back "just a tad".

I then just kept pressing the shutter button continuously until the storm passed. I only managed to get one lighting streak. Most of the lighting was not in streaks, but rather, was just a brief bright glow in the sky.

I used the ND filter because it was the middle of the afternoon and a 6 second SS would blow out everything. I do have a .9 and .6 Tiffen filter as well as the 1.2

Would I still use an ND filter in the evening when the sky would be darker?
What is the best shutter speed?
I don't have a remote shutter release. Should I use the self timer?
Is the Aperture too large at f14?

I would be grateful for any advice.

DSC_4984 by Soo J, on Flickr

[chauncey]

But one of a ton of suggestions...http://www.lightningphotography.com/tips.html

[Shadowman]

The one you did get was pretty good.

[Suzan J]

Thanks for the link. I have saved it as it does offer some easy to understand tips. The only thing I am still researching is how the ND filters fit in to the technique. My guess is that they would not be needed if the storm occurs at night, but a lot of our summer thunder showers happen while it is still light out. It really does not get dark here at this time of year until almost 11 p.m.

[dubaiphil]

Well if you don't have a remote shutter release a good idea would be to put the camera on self timer with a lag of a couple of seconds - this will get rid most of your camera shake. If it's windy weather and you're using a longer lens with the tripod mounted to the camera body then finding a way of shielding the camera from the wind and weighing down the tripod my help further.

In terms of getting strikes in your image you're going to be shooting a lot of images in order to get lucky. If you're using a longer shutter time then making sure you're camera's long exposure noise reduction is switched off will reduce the chance of missing a strike if it occurs during the downtime of the in camera noise reduction.

Here's an example of mine - I was aiming at a target with a pretty high chance of a strike as it's over 800m tall. Unfortunately I was washed out of my original location due to a massive hail storm which would have taken in a wider view. As it was at night I didn't need an ND for a longer shutter speed, but I still wouldn't rule that out as with a wider field of view and a long shutter time you have more chance of multiple strikes across the area.



8 secs at f16

So to answer your questions directly from my experience:

Would I still use an ND filter in the evening when the sky would be darker? There no reason why not, as long as you're shooting at low ISO's and you don't suffer too much noise.
What is the best shutter speed? That depends on your field of view, how big the storm front is, chances of getting strikes, size of memory card! I found 6-8 seconds at the fastest to be ideal as I captured a double strike in the image above. I wouldn't hesitate at 30 seconds or more if I was shooting again
I don't have a remote shutter release. Should I use the self timer? Very helpful to do that, as you will reduce camera shake, but you may miss the strike. Remote shutter would be the best option and there are some good 3rd party offerings out there which are major brand copies for a fraction of the price.
Is the Aperture too large at f14? It depends on your lens and camera really - diffraction may start to deteriorate image quality from f8-f11 upwards, but you make be willing to accept this to get the shutter speed that you want.

Living in a place called Thunder Bay, we should be seeing plenty of examples over coming weeks!

[Suzan J]

Thanks Phil. Your shot of the double lighting strike is great and this is what I would be striving for. Hopefully, I will get more chances to practice, with and without the ND filter. As you pointed out, the name of the city was chosen for good reason!