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+--- Thread: And You Thought...... (/showthread.php?tid=1033)
And You Thought...... - eightyeightfan1 - 03-29-2009
Installing a DCC decoder in an Athearn Blue Box was hard?
Try taking a picture of a lightning bolt.
This was just taken tonight by me. Its kinda like another hobby. Out of the fifteen years of trying to get a picture of a lightning bolt, this is only the second good one that I ever got.
Re: And You Thought...... - Ralph - 03-29-2009
Whoa!
Cool shot Ed! Were you wearing rubber soled shoes? 
Ralph
Re: And You Thought...... - nachoman - 03-29-2009
That's impressive!
Now, that is a snapshot and not a still from a video, right? 
Re: And You Thought...... - ngauger - 03-29-2009
Nice!!! yeah - I've tried that too
i got a few good ones
Re: And You Thought...... - Steamtrains - 03-29-2009
Excellent shot..!! I can see why they'd be hard to capture...Last only a fraction of a second....
Now for some "controversy"...I've heard people say that lightning bolts originate on the ground and travel upwards...others say the opposite. So....what's the real deal here..??
Re: And You Thought...... - Trucklover - 03-29-2009
Steamtrains Wrote:Excellent shot..!! I can see why they'd be hard to capture...Last only a fraction of a second....
88, that is a fantastic shot!! 
Re: And You Thought...... - eightyeightfan1 - 03-29-2009
Thanks guys,
It was taken with my Kodak C743. I didn't realize I got it until I reviewed the pics.
Re: And You Thought...... - sgtcarl1 - 03-29-2009
Absolutely fantastic!!! and now for the Rrrest of the story, only about 10 percent or less, actually travel upward, and those are only from the very fiercest [sp] of storms. Or so I've been told.
Re: And You Thought...... - Will_Annand - 03-30-2009
Excellent shot.
Well worth the wait
Re: And You Thought...... - ezdays - 03-30-2009
That has to be difficult at best to capture. Great shot.
Re: And You Thought...... - Herc Driver - 03-30-2009
Wow! That's impressive. What an amazing picture. (I'm not a big fan of lightning. As a pilot who flies around - waaaay around - Tstorms and who's plane has been hit a few times, it a beautifully powerful but scary occurrence.)
Re: And You Thought...... - MadModeler - 04-05-2009
Steamtrains Wrote:Excellent shot..!! I can see why they'd be hard to capture...Last only a fraction of a second....
Now for some "controversy"...I've heard people say that lightning bolts originate on the ground and travel upwards...others say the opposite. So....what's the real deal here..??
I believe both can apply. Just depends on where the negative charge is. Either in the ground or in the sky.
I remember seeing a lightning bolt start from a cloud and curve into an almost perfect circle to either the bottom of a cloud or another cloud that was underneath the first one. That was the freakiest bolt I've ever seen and I've never seen any others like that since.
And yes, that is a beautiful shot!
Re: And You Thought...... - MountainMan - 04-05-2009
Can you use a photocell or similar sensor to trip the shutter?
Re: And You Thought...... - TrainNut - 04-05-2009
I know how hard that is! I took these the hard way as well. One night last year during the monsoons, it was popping every 2-3 seconds so I went outside and took almost 100 pictures hoping that I might get something. Nothing special, just a little kodak DX 4900 easy share. Of all the pictures I took, I got two decent shots (if you want to call them that).
Re: And You Thought...... - RailRon - 04-10-2009
Beautiful pics - from both of you!
Yes, you just have to be lucky to get a decent (or even a good) photograph of a lightning bolt. Forget to press the shutter as soon as you see a lightning - you're way too slow!
If your camera has a shutter which can be opened for x seconds (by a cable) just mount it on a tripod, point to the part of the sky where most lightnings appear and open it. This way the next lightning will photograph itself! After the flash, close the shutter. The problem is the setting of the aperture of the camera. If it is too wide, the bolt will appear washed out, and if it is too small, the bolt only looks like a hair-fine line. And, of course, most of the lightnings are coming down (up?) just outside of the sky section you are pointing at - another application of Murphy's law!
Therefore it is still very improbable to get a good shot at the first few tries. I did some lighning photography a long time ago (about 40 years) on color slide film - and I remember that I got one good and two mediocre pictures from 15 rolls of film! After that I stopped lightning photography for good! This just became way too edxpensive!
Of course today it is MUCH cheaper doing the same with the digital cameras. But even then - it's still difficult to get good pics. Therefore: Congratulations, Ed and TrainNut
Ron