Here's a 2nd one, downtown is bottom right here, the lightning appears to be hitting a building on the s.8th street hilltop.
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 18, 2007 at 3:02 PM
Geez, these are AWESOME! This is the kind of lightning shot I've been striving for, but have been unsuccessful so far. I need to try the Springs, since there's so many places to look out across the city, unlike the flatlands here in Pwaylo.
Posted by Scott Bacon on August 18, 2007 at 3:07 PM
Yowza!! That makes me duck and run for cover just looking at the monitor! Outstanding!
Brilliant work, Don. That first one with the city lights and orange glow is extraordinary.
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 18, 2007 at 6:39 PM
I'll be looking at these over and over again. They are now the gold standard for this summer's lightning shots.
Posted by Tom Magnuson on August 18, 2007 at 9:50 PM
Great job Don Just goes to show you that you are not safe even miles away from the rain shafts. The first one which hit the ground west of Mt Rosa has channels miles to the east. YIKES!!
Posted by Joshua Hardin on August 18, 2007 at 10:12 PM
Way cool. I really like the first one with downtown in the foreground, the glow of the clouds and the nice ridgeline where the bolt is strking. Incredible.
Posted by Dan Walters on August 19, 2007 at 6:36 PM
Great images! Really like the first one.
Posted by Momo Vuyisich on August 19, 2007 at 11:41 PM
The first shot is spectacular. I love it!
Posted by Rene Pirolt on August 20, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Don - I think we shot the same two bolts last Friday night. I was in the Highpoint parking lot in Garden of the Gods shooting south towards Cheyenne Mtn. This post matches your first image, the second post matches your second image. Great shots!
Posted by Don Grall on August 21, 2007 at 12:01 PM
Paul: Wowwww! It sure appears to be the same bolts from different angles, that is crazy!!!!!!!!! What are the odds? My shots were taken at 9:46pm(2nd pic) and 9:48pm (1st pic) according to my metadata.
The horizontal leader in your 2nd pic must cover close to 10 miles which appears in my version as background leaders.
Posted by Craig Schultz on August 21, 2007 at 12:37 PM
Terrific shots Don. You folks sure have been blessed with some great lightening shows down south this summer. All these shots are definitely giving me the itch to try this myself; do any of you want to outline your general shooting parameters? Focus, aperture, shutter speed. I know Todd has been shooting some really long exposures but I don't think he gave the other info, so I'm wondering if all of you use slow shutter speeds too.
Focus: Infinity or Hyperfocal, Aperture: as wide as I can get, Shutter speed: 2s-8s at night, Having a sky-filling flash when your shutter is open: priceless!
I usually use iso100 at f8 if the lightning is close or f5.6 if further away. The first pic was 55 seconds on Bulb at f8, the 2nd pic was 50seconds at f5.6....the 2nd pic was actually taken first, which is why I closed down to f8 for subsequent strikes. Fortunately the 2nd strike which is the 1st pic was sufficiently bright enough.
Discussion
17 replies5D, 70-200f2.8
Both this one and the next are full frame.
The horizontal leader in your 2nd pic must cover close to 10 miles which appears in my version as background leaders.