Lightning is one of the most unpredictable forces of nature, photographing lightning presents a unique and exciting experience for amatuer and profssional photographers.  The tips below will help you capture these powerful forces of nature.

Photography Lighting Tips

1. Safety Tips - Choose a place with a sky view which is optimal. You must choose a location that is safe during lightning. Some situations you shouldn't be in when there are thunderstorms closer than about 8 km or so are:

   • being on an elevated area like a dike or hill, or another tall object
   • in the open field
   • being near to trees
   • being near fences or powerline poles
   • being indoors and very close to a window

   These are some common situations in which you are at risk of being hit by lightning. either directly or indirectly, and you should avoid them. Some people will argue that sitting in a car with the windows closed is considered to be safe. Personally, I prefer good distance. Photographing lightning at a thunderstorm just overhead is extremely dangerous. It does not have to be raining for it to be dangerous. A radio transmitter for firing the camera can be an excellent tool to keep you at a safe distance.

2. Equipment Suggestions
   

   • Camera with Bulb or long shutter speed capabilities.
   • Lenses ranging from 28mm to 135mm at minimum.
   • Sturdy tripod (metal or plastic doesn't make any difference whatsoever at all in safety - if lightning is so close by, you are in trouble anyway)
   • Lens Shade - This will help keep water drops off the front of the lens
   • Radio Transmitter or Remote Release to fire your camera
   • Plastic wrap for camera - This will allow you to have the camera in the elements and protect it.
     
     
3. Use a steady camera support - While a tripod is usually your best tool any steady surface will also work. One popular tool is a bean bag. It is easy to carry and can sit atop any surface easily.
   
   
4. Make Sure your Camera Can Have Long Shutter Times - Lightning is unpredictable. It is extremely hard to take a great image by tripping the shutter when you see a flash.  Depending on your cameras ability to manage digital noise on longer shutter speeds, using a timing of 30 seconds can work well. If you use the "bulb" setting a separate wired shutter release will be helpful.
   
   
5. Include Something Interesting - While the majority of the action will be in the sky, don’t forget to keep some ground based items in the frame to give relevance and perspective to the shot.  Buildings are a favorite, but really, anything that can give an idea of the size of the storm works well. Buildings have the advantage of not moving. (You hope)
   
   Photo provided by http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
   
   
   
   
6. Use Manual Focus - Manual focus set to infinity works best because the camera will be searching in the dark for something to focu on.because the view will probably be at night (but not always) with a fair amount of darkness.  Rather than allow your camera to hunt around for something to focus on with each new shot, get a good manual focus on the sky and leave it there.
   
   
7. Manual Shutter/Aperture - As mentioned in #2, if your camera has the ability to set the shutter speed, pick a long shutter time and a fairly wide aperture.  The action will be far from you so a wide aperture and shallow depth of field won’t be a problem (unless you have some very near objects you’d like to include).
   
   

8. If a thunderstorm is active your should observe it and wait for the next lightning bolt. Rather than rush to set up your camera study the storm to see if it is worth the effort. Here are some guidelines on what is not the best:

   • thunderstorms with just sheet-lightning
   • thunderstorms far away (> 25 km) and embedded in low-level clouds - just not enough definition
   • weak electrical thunderstorms, not too much lightning
   • thunderstorms where the lightning is in rainfall. Rainfall washes out lightning and reduces the contrast

   These types of storms photograph better:

   • isolated active thunderstorms
   • a squall line which forms ahead of a cold front or trough. These are very active thunderstorms producing lots of lightning
   • supercell storms

   
   
   

9. Technique: It is pretty basic to photograph lightning. You set up your equipment. If your tripod is lightweight you can use milk jugs with water or other means to weigh it down. Setting your focus to infinity, selecting the ISO, try 100. Open the shutter. When the lightning occurs within your camera's view, you close the shutter.

   This is what complicates this "simplicity":
   

   • ambient light - light pollution, which will give your photos a look you may or may not want. The length of time the lens can be open in the city lights is more limited than the city lights.
   • movement of clouds or foreground material - Wind can be a real pain and will cause blurring
     
     

   Scene Brightness - Exposure Recommendations	ISO	Aperture
   Very close blinding CG lightning (< 100 m/yards) NOT RECOMMENDED! LEAVE!	100 ISO	f/16-f/22
   Relatively close, blinding CG lightning (~ 1 km) NOT RECOMMENDED! LEAVE VERY SOON!	100 ISO	f/11
   Distant CG lightning (4-8 miles)	100 ISO	f/5.6
   Distant CC lightning (5-9 miles)	100 ISO	f/4
   Distant CG/CC lightning (8 - 17 miles)	200 ISO	f/4-f/5.6
   Remote CG/CC lightning (18-44 miles)	200 ISO	f/2.8

   
   You will need to adjust your ISO to fit your current situation.
   
   Exposure is a matter of trial and error. Not all lightning is created equal and not all scenes are equal.
   The beauty of digital photography is that you can shoot and shoot and learn.
   
   
   Photo provided by http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
   
   
10. Be Patient - This is a big one and a key to success.  Get familiar with your gear and settings so when there is a lightning storm you can set up the camera and then let it do its thing while you enjoy the show.  You’re going to have a number of times when you miss “the shot” for one reason or another.  Don’t sweat it.

It will take a little practice to work out the kinks, but once you do, you will have a lot of fun.

Submitted by Art of Art's Photography