Lightning

Last night we had a good old fashioned lightning storm here. It was probably one of the best I've seen here in So. Cal., but still doesn't rival a Nebraska thunderstorm. Still, I got some pretty nice shots. I'll post them later. I didn't even turn on our computers last night for fear of a power surge due to the storm.

I wasn't feeling well at all yesterday and left work early. I went home and straight to bed. After 4+ hours of "napping" I got up, watched a little TV and ate some dinner. All evening it had been doing a show, but for some reason I hadn't thought about taking the camera out for a show. I guess maybe because I wasn't feeling well, the idea of standing outside in the rain to take pictures really didn't appeal to me.

At around 11:30 PM or so I was about to go back to bed when the bright flashes of light FINALLY caught my attention. I took the camera out on the deck for a few shots. It wasn't raining and the deck was only wet in spots, so I could easily stay on the dry parts -- a major desire since I was only wearing socks on my feet, no shoes.


I spent about an hour out there, pointing the camera where I thought a lightning strike might happen and shooting 30 second exposures at a time. I got some pretty good shots, I thought. I brought the camera in, and took out the notebook computer (battery powered -- no chance for surge) to see what I'd just shot. While looking at those pictures -- and there were some nice ones -- the storm really moved in. I couldn't give up now.


With camera & tripod in hand, I went back out on the deck -- this time the whole deck was wet, and of course, eventually so were my socks. The rain had already stopped -- or was just stopping. I started out by hanging around under the eves -- on the dry part of the deck, but eventually wandered out for the better shots. Now here was a show worthy of getting my socks wet. I managed to point the camera in the right direction on multiple occasions.


It seems that everytime I gave up on a spot and move the camera, it would get a great strike where I HAD been pointing. I decided to employ a 5 exposure rule -- I would shoot 5 30 second exposures at the same location. If it gave me nothing in 5 shots, I'd either choose a new location to point at, or give up. I never got to the end this way. The storm was still going on when I finally gave up at 2:00 AM and went back in side. Of course, as I looked at this recent set of photos on the notebook, the storm once again moved in closer and the light coming in the dining room windows was almost blinding at times -- but I resisted a 3rd trip outside. I do believe I got one of the best lightning shots I've ever taken during that second pass, so it certainly was worth it, but I did need some sleep. After all, I was sick, man.