Author Topic: How to take pictures of lightning (Read 479 times)

xrtoronto · « **Reply #15 on:** July 30, 2006, 01:25:55 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by WhiteHawk
The streamer that reaches first gets the t-bolt.

those 'streamers' are called Step Leaders:

Step leader
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A step leader is a path of ionized air which extends downward from a thundercloud during the initial stages of atmospheric breakdown during a lightning strike. Often, there are multiple, branching step leaders. As the step leaders form, these branches of ionized air form in a stepwise fashion, followed by a short period of inactivity, until the final step leader reaches the ground, a tall object on the ground, or a positive streamer extending upward from a ground object. At this point, the lightning strike begins as an extremely large negative electric current that flows along the path defined by the step leaders from the thundercloud into to the ground.

Dinger · « **Reply #16 on:** July 30, 2006, 01:32:25 PM »

Yeah, heck, I took some decent lightning shots 5 years ago with my Nikon Coolpix E995. I still have the camera, and it's still my primary...

B(ulb) setting is very useful, but all you really need is a shutter-priority mode with exposure compensation. Set the exposure compensation to say underexpose one full stop, and run the shutter for a couple seconds on a tripod. Keep shooting until you get the lightning.

BTW · « **Reply #17 on:** July 30, 2006, 01:42:30 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by xrtoronto
those 'streamers' are called Step Leaders:

Step leader
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A step leader is a path of ionized air which extends downward from a thundercloud during the initial stages of atmospheric breakdown during a lightning strike. Often, there are multiple, branching step leaders. As the step leaders form, these branches of ionized air form in a stepwise fashion, followed by a short period of inactivity, until the final step leader reaches the ground, a tall object on the ground, or a positive streamer extending upward from a ground object. At this point, the lightning strike begins as an extremely large negative electric current that flows along the path defined by the step leaders from the thundercloud into to the ground.

That's why some people brag about being struck by lightning 3 or 4 times in their life. Me thinks they got struck by a step leader and not the that bolt you see hitting the tree!

If someone got hit by that, I think their brain would evaporate.

Meatwad · « **Reply #18 on:** July 30, 2006, 03:01:26 PM »

My dad said that he was out in a outhouse years ago taking a dump when lightning hit it. (well someone from the house seen it hit). He (they) said he took off running out of there like a bat out of heck with his pants at his knees and crap all over his butt

Debonair · « **Reply #19 on:** July 31, 2006, 12:42:57 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Dinger
Yeah, heck, I took some decent lightning shots 5 years ago with my Nikon Coolpix E995. I still have the camera, and it's still my primary...

B(ulb) setting is very useful, but all you really need is a shutter-priority mode with exposure compensation. Set the exposure compensation to say underexpose one full stop, and run the shutter for a couple seconds on a tripod. Keep shooting until you get the lightning.

zOMG brilliant!!
i forgot that with digital u dont need to worry about conserving film.
i photo-graphed lightning & metor showers near Tucson in '96 with my FM-2...
...i would use shutter prioroty for the guy running with his pants down also...

B@tfinkV · « **Reply #20 on:** July 31, 2006, 01:05:16 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by BTW
That's why some people brag about being struck by lightning 3 or 4 times in their life. Me thinks they got struck by a step leader and not the that bolt you see hitting the tree! If someone got hit by that, I think their brain would evaporate.

this isnt possible as far as i know.

the leaders are not much more than static electricity.

objects on the ground, trees/buildings/people etc send off an almost imvisible leader.

as the staitc leaders from the thunder cloud decend, they search out for the easiest to reach leader from a ground object and once a connection has been made by a cloud leader to a ground leader the thunder cloud discharges all the trapped electricity down the 'wire' of the two connected leaders.

the forks coming out of the lightning are leaders that failed to reach the ground first, and the very faint one from the tele pole is a failed ground leader dying out.