How to Shoot Lightning

50mm | 8s | f/9 | ISO 400

The inclement weather today got me thinking yet again about shooting lightning.  Alas, I didn't get a chance, but I was reminded of my desire to put together a tutorial on how to shoot lightning.  I figured while its fresh in my mind from thinking about it all day I would start writing it down.

1. Location

It is best to find a location well before the storm actually occurs.  I can't stress how important this is.  When you're chasing a storm and stumbling through setting up your tripod and getting the settings right on your camera, the last thing you need to worry about is where you're going.  Having multiple locations would be perfect.

Find a location that meets most (if not all) of the following criteria:

• Covered.  You're trying to shoot lightning, the odds are high that it will rain.  Although in Florida that is not always the case.
• Wide, unobstructed view.  A tall building would be good (parking garage, condo balcony) or flat open land (lake, open field)
• Accessible.  You will likely be travelling here spur of the moment when the weather is right.  It is preferable that the location is close to home (or work) and is easy to get to and from your car.  Keep in mind that it might be raining when you arrive/leave.

The location for all the pictures in this post was the gazebo/dock at the apartment complex I lived at overlooking Big Sand Lake.  It was about a 1 minute drive from my apartment, had a pretty wide view, and the gazebo provided some cover (as shown below).  I have yet to find a place just as good near my new apartment.

18mm | 10s | f/13 | ISO 400

2. Learn the weather pattern

I have always been interested in weather and meterology, so this came naturally to me.  What I mean by this is have an understanding of how storms form and move near you.  This can make a huge difference in capturing lightning or not.

In Florida the weather is very seasonal.  Fall and Winter are mostly dry with fronts moving through.  Spring is wet but sproatic.  Summer (especially July/August) is showers daily around 3-5PM.  Normally right when your getting out of work, but occasionally later into the night.

3. Time of Day

The best storm system in the world could be coming through at 2PM and I wouldn't even consider going outside to take pictures (maybe to just watch).  It must be in the evening or at night.  I will explain more in the next section on exposure, and it will become clear.

4. Exposure

Lightning happens in an instant.  I hear that a quick fingered photographer can catch the secondary flashes that will normally occur through the same bolt, but you are never quick enough to catch the first.  Therefore, don't try to be quick.  Do a long exposure.

Switch to Manual mode.  My initial settings when shooting lightning are as follows:  f/11 & 10s.  Take a picture of the scene and take a look at what you see on the viewfinder.  What your looking for is to just barely make out the scene in the foreground of your image.  In the example below, I was looking at the apartment buildings on the right.  Change the aperture to get what you want, only change the shutter speed if the aperture is getting too big (~f/8).

With the exposure set, start shooting.  Keep in mind the frequency of the lightning bolts.  If they are infrequent, lower your shutter speed to 13s or 15s.  If they are frequent, do the opposite.  Make sure to alter the aperture accordingly.  

26mm | 10s | f/9 | ISO 400

A simple way to tell if it is too bright outside for lightning is to take an exposure reading of the sky with your camera.  Go outside, point in the general direction of the sky/lightning, and lower the aperture.  If you get to your min aperture and you shutter speed is still <1s, don't bother.  Make sure you're at the minimum ISO.

5. Tripod and Remote

Your going to be taking a long exposure.  Get a sturdy tripod that you don't mind getting wet.  Also get a remote or wireless trigger. 

6. Focus

This can be tricky.  How do you focus on something that isn't there?  I've gotten burned on this a few times.

I previously mentioned to set the exposure so you can barely see the foreground of the image.  This is also useful for focus.  Set the focus to Manual and do the best to focus on the farthest thing away that you can see in the image.  Hopefully this, and the small aperture, will keep a majority of the scene in focus.  If you see pictures where lightning is out of focus, fix it immediately!

I need to look into using hyperfocal distances to ensure that the entire scene is in focus, and I will update this post when/if I do so.

7. Patience

This is almost as important as finding a location.  Lightning shots aren't something you can just walk outside and take whenever you want.  You have to have the patience to wait for the right weather conditions to occur at the right location at the right time of day.  Then you have to sit through ~10s shutters hoping that something will happen during that time.  Then you have to fight the urge to move the camera because "something interesting just happened over there".  Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice.  Be cognizant of where the storm is and where a majority of the lightning is occurring, and aim for that.