Thursday, August 5, 2021

Capturing Lightning!

Last post, after visiting the seldom seen JTNP museum collection, I headed home to rest up for an afternoon hike. I left you last week with the photo below, and asked you to keep an eye on those clouds on the horizon (for some interesting activity after sunset).
I'll share photos from the actual hike with you next post, but allow me to jump ahead to the very end of the hike. The sun had set, and we were losing the red/yellow late afternoon light spectrum, which was being replaced by the cooler blue & purple tones. We were close to needing headlamps, but not quite.
 

We reached the car, took off our packs, grabbed a cold beverage, and relaxed for a bit. On the horizon off to the east, we were seeing lightning strikes emanating from the clouds I told you to keep an eye on. But how do you photograph lightning? It's impossible to push the shutter release at just the right time. I didn't have a tripod. Otherwise I could have tried long exposure shots (10 seconds or so), and hope to get lucky. Mitch suggested a cell phone video, and isolating individual photos from the video. I was skeptical, but tried it anyway.
It actually worked pretty well! I know there are apps to isolate individual photos from a video, but being lazy and short on time, I just slowly advanced the video and took screenshots of the lightning strikes. They are small, noisy files, but you get the idea. Best viewed small!
 

A wonderful way to finish up a hike, and what a nice sky show!!
Linking with Skywatch Friday.
Thanks for stopping by!!



44 comments:

  1. I usually use tripod and 30sec. shutter speed to photograph lightning. But it all comes to luck eventually. Sometimes you manage to get decent pic or two other times you don´t. Seeing that in Nature is always a treat.

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  2. ...these are gorgeous images,the third one is my favorite.

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  3. Beautiful shot. When it gets dark, I used to start timelapse from DSLR and wait for that lucky time of lightning and DSLR shutter sync. Sometimes it works especially when you take timelapse for longer duration (say 5 mins)

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  4. oh wow you got some really good shots there, especially the lightning ones.

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  5. Stunning colors and wow on the lightning-shots! Here we had some, too, but I only have a movie of the thunder following. Plus I´m in the city and it was daytime.
    Good idea with the screenshots and thank you for sharing!

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  6. Considering the circumstances, you still have some nice lightning photos.
    We have a wet summer here in the north of the Netherlands, but we haven't had any photogenic thunderstorms this year. So I'm still waiting for my first lightning photos of the year. :-)

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  7. Again beautiful photos of the sky and those silhouettes of the trees, but the lightning beats everything both literally and figuratively.Great job.

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  8. You certainly captured the drama of the lightening.

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  9. amazing set of photos - I almost could hear the thunder - your lightning shots are remarkable

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  10. wow! well done, even if improvised.

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  11. Beautiful photos!
    Have a blessed day!

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  12. The second and third shots are outstanding. The lightning shots are interesting and makes me wonder what kind of quality might be achieved shooting video on a DSLR and using single frames from that.

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  13. colorful shots,nice lightning capture

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  14. Gorgeous! Where there's a will there's a way :)

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  15. I should say thank you for the tip. I have always wanted to catch lightening in a photo. Brilliant

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  16. Dearest Peter,
    Glad you followed Mitch's advice and created thus stunning images.
    We had lots of night time opportunity the other day, Tuesday a week ago, when around 8:00 PM we got the longest and fiercest lightning ever. First without rain, but lost our power and then heavy rain and we went to bed early. What else can you do? Our Internet was off for some 16 hours...
    Mother Nature can at times open its surprise box!
    Glad you made good use of it by capturing excellent images.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  17. Oh wow, great skies and a wonderful tip on photographing lightning. Amazing!!

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  18. Awesome lightning shots! Xo

    Living in the moment,

    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  19. Great shots. I have no idea how one would get lightning shots. Is it all luck, then? Interesting weather.

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  20. Those lightening strikes are beautiful! Hey, where have you been? Maybe you don't realize who I am? Have now a different username (Emille) to solve one of my wordpress problems! I am Jesh from the former Jeshtudio, and you told me I used to live (La Habra) about ten minutes where you live. Have a great weekend:)

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  21. Clever way to isolate the lightning strikes. Cool photos. Lightning scares me these days with the risk of fire ...

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  22. Gorgeous 2nd and 3rd photos with the lovely colours. Your lighting shots are fantastic. These days, we get lightings and very loud thunder but with little rain.

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  23. Has capturado muy bien las nubes y los rayos de la tormenta. Me encantan los preciosos colores y las buenas iluminaciones de las fotografías 2 y 3.

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  24. Greetings and Salutations! Wowza. What a way to end the adventure with lightening shots.

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  25. You certainly have dramatic skies where you live! That was a great idea to use a frame from a video on your cell phone to catch the lightning. I’ve accidentally captured lightning a couple times but it was pure luck. Your second and third sunset photos are just incredible.

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  26. Gosh amazing captures SPP, every one a gem 💜 The cloud formations over the national Park are always stunning ✨

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  27. You got some great lightening shots here. I discovered that cell phone trick last spring. It works pretty well but you still have to be patient. I love those clouds too.

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  28. That was a great suggestion by your friend. Yes my pixel is a Wonder. Looking forward to the number six. These are fabulous thanks for sharing

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  29. You always get wonderful photos of the sky -- in all its moods. But this one surprised me! Wonderful end to that very interesting day.

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  30. That's a simple and interesting idea to shoot lightning, and you should thank your friend for this. Love your photos in the cool twilight sky.

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  31. Wow! Wonderful shots of the lightning you saw! So dramatic. I once saw and electrical storm flashing in a large cloud we were flying above over in Nebraska on our way to Denver International Airport. It was so amazing to see it from that perspective.

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  32. You My Man - You Have Style - Amazing Capture - Enjoy The Family Time Brother

    Cheers

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  33. Nice shots, never tried this until now...

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  34. I followed the link you gave - and, will soon return to your other post to comment - and, i suppose i really shouldn't bother you here - because i agree with all these lovely people - who are trying to explain how Breath-Holding Beautiful your photos are. Honestly, all of your photos - every post - cause me to stop - and try to take in the gift you share - the stories - the matching memories that manage to surface - trying to add themselves to the moment . . . . Well, that's all, just - agreeing with everyone . . . I'm entirely grateful for the gift you share.

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