Tyler Jordan » nikon d300

How to Photograph Lightning

Tyler — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:35:56 +0000

Capturing lightning isn’t as tricky as one would think, provided you have the right equipment. The hardest part is finding the lightning and having said equipment with you at the time. My wife and I were in Cancun with my brother and his wife last summer and were lucky enough to have quite a light show the final night of our stay. Being on vacation, my brother’s wife Tina and I both had our digital SLRs so we were prepared when a surprise tropical storm rolled through on the final night of our trip.

What you’ll need is a camera you can control manually, a tripod, a cable release or timer, at the very least a semi-wide angle lens, and some serious cojones, balls, courage, machismo, chutzpah, or whatever your word for it may be. You may even call it absolute stupidity since we serve as electrical antennas when out in the elements during a lightning show. Always remember that any time you’re outside in a thunderstorm, you are risking your life. If it’s possible to be inside some type of shelter this would be ideal, but sometimes that’s just not possible. It’s also just fantastic, I might add in the most sarcastic of ways, that astrology books say I’m at risk of death by fire, explosion, or being struck by lightning.

So here we are sitting in the pool, enjoying some margaritas and tequila shots when the weather started getting a little weird. You could feel the electricity in the air and before long some rather ominous clouds could be seen on the horizon. As soon as I saw lightning I got out of the pool, grabbed my camera and since I didn’t have my tripod with me, found a hollow inverted pole I set my camera on so I wouldn’t have to worry about shake. At this point the lightning was far enough away that I wasn’t nervous about being wet and out in the open. This first shot was taken at this location. I had to take over one hundred shots before I was lucky enough to catch this since there was so much light I couldn’t use long exposures yet. This was taken with my Nikkor 18-200VR lens at ISO 100, f/22 – 1/3 of a sec at 18mm. I shot this at f/22 because there was a lot of foreground objects I also wanted in focus, but I could have also gone wider. Hey, I’d been drinking.

As the storm approached and the thunder grew much louder, we decided to get in doors. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed upstairs to near the top floor where my brother and Tina had a balcony with a perfect view. This time I had my mandatory tripod since it was starting to get dark. One of the first shots is the intro photo for this blog post. This shot was taken with my other lens, the Tokina 11-16 ATX at ISO 100, f/11, 7 seconds at 13mm.

Here’s a guide for reference, just adjust your shutter speed for correct light:
For dangerous lightning that is very close – 100 ISO, f/16-f/22
Relatively close, up to a mile – 100 ISO, f/11
Distant lightning 3-5 miles – 100 ISO f/5.6
Distant lightning 5-8 miles – 100 ISO f/4
Far away lightning 8-15 miles – 200 ISO f/4-f/5.6

Once it was totally dark, I was able to leave the shutter open for 30 seconds and since there were times where strikes would occur every 5-15 seconds, I would capture lightning just about every time and sometimes multiple strike in one exposure. Shooting lightning in conditions like this is not at all difficult. The camera and nature are really doing all the work, leaving you to sit back and enjoy the show, just be safe. At the very least, try to have some cover and never drink cocktails when shooting lightning.

New Photos from La Jolla – Just before the tragedy.

Tyler — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:15:17 +0000

I was able to get a couple pics before my camera took a tragic fall off an eight foot ledge into some sand. All I can do is hope it wasn’t too bad. It was not a good day for me.

I took some photos at Sunset Cliffs here in San Diego the other day.

Tyler — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:04:49 +0000

This one is of Bird Shit Rock, AKA Reeds Rock. My dad and I used to surf here from time to time so it was kind of cool to go down and take a trip down memory lane. This photo was taken just past noon so in order for me to have such a long exposure I stacked two Neutral Density filters including my 10 stop BW. I’m going to write a review on this filter in the next few weeks. I absolutely love the added possibilities it gives me.

This one is the arch just north of Osprey Street.

Another group of photos from Kauai

Tyler — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:13:11 +0000

This is the last group of images from the garden island.

Waimea Canyon from a chopper

Haena Beach Park, North Shore, Kauai

Waterfall at Queen’s Bath, North Shore, Kauai

Kipu Falls, Kauai – that’s me on the rope swing. My wife Karen took this pic. This is one of the funnest places on the island, a deep hole you can jump into at the falls, rope swing, or jump off the tree branches above the rope swing. I’m not sure how deep it is, but I never touched bottom anywhere and locals have been doing this forever.

Lotus

North Shore, Kauai from a helicopter

More photos from Kauai

Tyler — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:26:27 +0000

Yesterday we had the breathtaking opportunity to view Kauai from a helicopter. Here’s a couple pics of the Na Pali coastline as well as some shots from our adventures today. The next time we see the Na Pali coastline will be by boat. I’ll hopefully post more images tomorrow.

Mahalo,
Tyler

Kapa’a Stream at Ho’opi’i Falls

173 foot Wailua Falls in Kauai was featured in the opening credits for Fantasy Island. “The Plane, The Plane!”

The Kauai Locals. Respect them, or else. Actually, the “real” locals want the main landers to take the chickens with us when we leave, as they are a nuisance.

The Na Pali Coast from a helicopter

Tunnels and Ke’e beach on the north shore of Kauai from a helicopter

Photos from the Yucatan Peninsula

Tyler — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:55:15 +0000

Natural light show – Cancun, Mexico

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View from the Mayan temple of Ixchel, the goddess of love, fertility and the moon. Isla Mujeres, Mexico

The Parrots of Selvatica

Mayan city of Tulum

The beautiful beach at Tulum. I could sit here all day. 85 degree ocean water wasn’t bad either. This was the most stunning beach I’ve seen.

I have many more images and will post them over the next couple days.