11/7/2022 0 Comments Lightning on a clear day![]() ![]() Except the neutral density filter simply acts like a pair of sunglasses for your camera-it blocks out a certain amount of light (usually measured in stops), which allows you to keep the shutter open for longer periods of time. In case you aren’t familiar with the term, this is a very simple device that you screw on to the end of your lens, just like a UV filter or a polarizer. It’s also extremely likely that you’re going to need a neutral density filter. Just set it up to count down from about five seconds and that should be enough time for any shutter-button-touching shake to subside so you can get a clear image. If you’re the sort of person who just can’t ever seem to find that remote/cable release, don’t worry-you can also use your camera’s self-timer function. Once you have your camera mounted on a tripod you will need a way to remotely release the shutter, because at very slow shutter speeds the simple act of touching your camera can be enough to induce camera shake. Slow shutter speeds, of course, mean tripods, and remember that tripods generally go hand in hand with remote/cable releases. If not, borrow a friend’s camera the next time lightning and thunder is in the forecast. But you will need speeds of about 10 seconds or more, so make sure that your camera has that ability built into it. For daytime lightning shots you won’t need BULB mode, so don’t worry if your camera doesn’t have that setting (BULB mode is the setting that lets you control both when the shutter opens and when it closes, which allows you to achieve shutter speeds greater than the usual maximum of 30 seconds). #LIGHTNING ON A CLEAR DAY MANUAL#What you needĪn essential element of photographing lightning is a camera that lets you take manual control over your shutter speed. Remember that you’ll also need to take reasonable precautions to protect your camera-with thunder often comes rain or hail, so if you do happen to be in a location where there is some risk of bad weather reaching your camera, make sure you have a padded camera bag on hand that you can put the camera into in case of a icy deluge, and put your camera in a rain sleeve to protect it from the wetter variety of precipitation. Or if you’re out and about when that storm comes along, you can shoot from inside your car. You’re going to be safest inside a habitable building-a great lightning-shooting location is on the indoor side of an open window or sliding glass door. ![]() That shed out there in the field isn’t going to offer much protection, either. And by shelter, I don’t mean that lone tree sitting out in the middle of a field, which will certainly protect you from the rain-but not so much from the lightning itself. This is a very rough estimate, of course, but generally speaking you probably don’t want to be out in the open once the lightning gets to within a mile or so of your location. So if, for example, you counted 10 seconds between lightning and thunder, the storm is roughly two miles away. You can judge the rough distance between yourself and the lightning by dividing the number of seconds between lightning and thunder by five. Sound doesn’t travel as fast as light, so when you see the lightning strike, count. If you’re not sure how far away the storm is, you can use that old fashioned technique that works just as well today as it did a couple of centuries ago: count. This could just be some distance away from the storm. But you don’t want to end up being that one guy who got struck by lightning because he didn’t think it could ever happen to him, so you do need to take some basic precautions.įirst, make sure you are shooting from a safe place. And her fears were not unfounded, although lightning strikes on humans are a lot less common than she probably thought they were. Did your mom ever warn you about going out in a lightning storm? Almost certainly. First let’s go over some of the most important rules of lightning photography. ![]()
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