Lightning Appearing to Strike Twice
June 16th, 2008I’ve had little success with long exposures. Our last night on the beach, there was a little bit of lightning. I spent an hour doing 30 second exposures. This shot was the best one by far. I love that you can see a couple dining on the beach with a spotlight as well as people looking for crabs along the shoreline.
This is pretty noisy, but I love the double fork of lightning and the cloud formation. Utah doesn’t deliver quite the same thunder/lightning that other parts of the U.S. can bring. I had hoped for 20 or 30 shots I could pick the best from, but alas, it didn’t work out that way.
I used this, wrapped around the deck rail to hold the camera and the 24-70 2.8L lens. It works well as a headdress, sure, but as a grippy camera thingy, it did very well, despite making Heather extremely nervous that our camera was being held four floors up by the Gorillapod.
This is a full manual shot, with aperture and exposure all dialed in by me. I tried to shoot it at 100 ISO, but 500 yielded a bit more detail and light in the foreground, especially because I wanted a higher f-stop (this shot is f11) for a broader depth of field. o
Tags: destin, florida, lightning, ocean, summer, weather
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June 17th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Beautiful shot! Thanks for spec’s on it.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Very nice.
I would have been nervous about the tripod too especially given your previous review on it not holding large SLRs that well. I would recommend a remote as your next accessory for long exposures.
Just in time for the 4th of July. There is this lookout above I-215 where you can capture fireworks with freeway car lights moving below. And if you are lucky the sunset in the background.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I swear by my GorillaPod. The first time I ever used it was on top of the Empire State Building. I was doing 4-second exposures just before closing time, the camera clamped on the OUTSIDE of the security gate. I had nightmares of dropping the thing to the sidewalk below, then having to explain to my wife why I came home cameraless.
Fortunately everything came out fine. Here’s one of the keepers from that night:
http://tinyurl.com/699ol7
I love this scene. It’s a snapshot of so many lives lived. I need to get outside when the thunder starts to rumble. Thanks for the inspiration!
June 17th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Fantastic picture. Really, really fantastic. Glad to hear ya’ll had a good vacation in Florida, too.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
That’s an awesome shot. And I love my Gorillapod, though I have the smaller version so it doesn’t do as well as a headpiece.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I’ve been living in Tampa, FL for two years and have been trying, with no luck, to get a long exposure lightning shot. Great work, lots of fun too.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Excellent shot. I’m going to have to learn that one.
Let your wife tell you about sinus’. I expect that you got sick from being in the south with our humidity. Discount it as you will. I get nosebleeds when I head west for a week. The humidity is something we southerners are accustomed to. When I change my climate like some of your splendid western weather my nose is never prepared.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:15 am
that really is a fantastic shot
June 18th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Wow that is amazing….
June 18th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Gorgeous!
June 18th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Love the photo. But more importantly the gorillapod. I swear this little device has changed my photography. I talk about like I am selling Amway products. Glad you like yours.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Great shot - love the detail. I had the chance to use a Gorillapod for the first time this past weekend and I loved it; definitely going to be getting one for myself.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Wow, that’s stunning. I would like to reserve a spot in line for a print of this one!
June 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I love how you’re all “I suck at this, but here’s my cover shot for National Geographic.”
Whatever. Snot haver.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:21 am
holy crap. awesome.
and P.S. not to make Heather more nervous, but my Gorillapad broke in like one day.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Fantastic photo. One that you can sit and look at for a long time.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:44 am
Dude… this rocks. Please make prints available in your etsy shop, if you haven’t yet done so!