George R., question about lightning pics.

[ReF]

to George R.:

Hi, i just remembered that I asked about how you take lightning pics but i cannot remember which thread it was in. i'm only on the forum a few days out of the week (gone for several consecutive days) , so many times when i get back, i forget where look on this forum for certain info. thanks.

[ktixx]

you can go to "Members List" and click on your name and review all the reply posts you have made, or all the threads you have started. This is probably the best way to find what you are looking for.
Ken

[D70FAN]

Originally Posted by ReF

to George R.:

Hi, i just remembered that I asked about how you take lightning pics but i cannot remember which thread it was in. i'm only on the forum a few days out of the week (gone for several consecutive days) , so many times when i get back, i forget where look on this forum for certain info. thanks.

You can also send private messages, but for general questions you are correct to use the forums, as sometimes, in spite of ourselves, we actually give some useful advice.

I don't know if you are familiar with the desert southwest, but during the late summer months we get a weather pattern known as Monsoon. Officially it starts when the dewpoint is above 55 degrees for more than 3 consecutive days and generally takes temperatures in the 105F to 110F to generate a storm.

It starts with a dust storm (not a sand storm) as the roiling winds, preceeding violent thunder storms, lift the silty dust from dry lakebeds to the south. At times these dust storms can obliterate the sun and encompass half of the Valley Of The Sun.

Then come the thunder storms. Some of this years storms were spectacular light shows with lightning striking a hundred times a minute, like flashbulbs at the opening of the Olympics.

I have tried to take continous shots during lightning storms before, but most all-in-ones can only shoot 4-8 frames before they bog down. With the D70 I mounted the camera to a tripod in my driveway, made sure I had an Ultra II card installed, set it for continuous shooting at ISO 1600, aimed in the direction of the approaching lightning, and held the shutter down until I ran out of memory (about 80 shots). I used the cameras review function and deleted the non-lightning shots. I ended up with 3 good shots, but the tripple strike (posted up on smugmug.com) was the final "keeper".

Add a brief encounter with Noise Ninja and there you have it.

[ReF]

thanks George, i didn't realize there could be so many lightning strikes per minute, at least not anywhere in the U.S. which part of the southwest desert do you live in? I'm here in southern california. is it particularly dangerous outside during these storms, or does the lightning stay far away?

by the way, i did try to search for the original reply, but i had a hard time searching since it was under another subject.