Photographing Lightning Storms
A few people have asked me about how to shoot lightning storms, so I thought I'd put up a post with some pointers. The good news is that you don't have to have super-fast reflexes and try to press the shutter when you think lightning is about to strike, and it doesn't require any expensive special equipment like a lightning trigger. The only thing you'll need is a remote shutter release, which you can pick up for $20 or less, and you'll probably want one anyway for all long exposure shots whenever you're out shooting, day or night. Here's the procedure for lightning:
* First and foremost, the process simply involves keeping the shutter open for a long time, and closing it once you see a lightning strike. That's really it. Now you just have to work out the settings so the picture will actually be exposed correctly.
* Set the ISO to 100.
* The first step is to determine the best aperture to use for the ambient light wherever you're shooting. The aperture setting will be very different in a city environment where there is a lot of ambient light vs. out in the desert in Arizona, where there is virtually none.
* You're going to want to set the Aperture closed down enough so that you can have the shutter open for about 20 seconds before the ambient light overexposes the whole photo, but open enough that you still get some foreground picked up after about five seconds. For example, in NYC, from a balcony in a high-rise building, if you set the aperture to about F7.1 to F8.0, you can keep the shutter open for about 20 seconds and the "city itself" will look pretty good. It doesn't have to be perfect, since the primary subject will be the lightning, but you want it to be "good". With an aperture any wider than 7.1, too much light enters the camera and you're overexposed in about 10 seconds, which is too quick. If the aperture is closed down more than F11, the picture will be too dark and you won't capture any of the city, unless you keep the shutter open for 30+ seconds, which is too long. The sweet spot around F7 is just enough to allow you to keep the shutter open for about 20 seconds. To do your testing to set the right aperture for your location, first set the camera's shutter speed to "B" or "Bulb" mode. Just about every D-SLR has bulb mode -- you usually get to it by setting to the longest shutter speed you have, and then going one more. That's Bulb. Once your camera is set to Bulb, this is where the remote shutter release comes in. The remote probably has just one button. When the camera is in Bulb mode, you press the button once to open the shutter, wait as long as you want while the shutter stays open, and you press the button again to close it. Set the aperture on your camera to about F8, press the remote button once, wait about 20 seconds, then press the button to close the shutter. Take a look at the picture on the LCD. Is it dark? If so open the aperture to F5.6 and repeat the process. If it's too bright, close down the aperture until the setting you're in looks good at about a 20 second exposure. Now you're ready for the lightning...
* This is the easy part. Use your widest lens and point in the general direction of where you see lightning strikes. Press the remote button to open the shutter and wait. If you see lightning strike, immediately close the shutter and you're done. The best result will happen if the lightning strikes between 10 and 15 seconds after you've opened the shutter, so that some ambient light will have entered the camera and you'll have captured the location, but the sky will still be dark enough to show off the lightning. If no lightning strikes after the shutter has been open for about 20 seconds, press the button, erase that frame, and start again (if you have enough space on your memory card, you may want to erase all the shots at the end, so you don't miss a strike while you're busy erasing). If the lightning is particularly far away, you may need a wider aperture, and then you'll have to keep the shutter to shorter speeds (10 seconds). These settings are meant to be a general guideline, and to get you familiar with the "procedure", rather than to specify exact settings. All situations and locations will be different, and you'll have to adjust the settings as necessary to get the best result.
Lastly, don't forget to always be safe when in storm conditions. You'll always have another opportunity...
I've also created an app for iPhone, Android, and iPod Touch which teaches you photography -- more info can be found here:
Photography Trainer for iPhone and Android
Photography Trainer iPhone app
To keep up-to-date with the latest photo additions and other topics, you can also become a fan at my Photography Facebook page at:
Paul Timpa Photography's Facebook Page
If you'd like to purchase prints or stock photography licenses for my photos (for advertising and editorial use), please visit:
http://www.timpaphotography.com/purchase
Best,
Paul
http://www.timpaphotography.com/
Copyright 2009, Paul Timpa
Choosing the best Focal Length for a photo
Tropical and Coastal Stock Photography - Images by Paul Timpa
Today's discussion revolves around focal length. While most of us are familiar with "zooming in" or selecting a longer lens to make our subject larger, or zooming out to "go wide" there is actually a more subtle, but in my opinion far more important effect of focal length, that should be thought about every time you take a photo and select a focal length or lens:
From a "photographic" perspective, it is focal length that determines how much distance appears between two objects that are at different distances from you (such as a flower in front of you and a mountain behind the flower). The actual distance between the two objects in "real life" is irrelevant and has no bearing on the photo. Through the "laws of optics" it is entirely up to you to set the distance between two objects, and you can set it however you like. That's why it's so important to recognize this every time you take a shot. Let's use a real life example to make it clearer:
Say you're in a field and there's a beautiful sunflower about 10 feet in front of you. Behind the sunflower, about a mile back, is a mountain. It is only to your eyes that the distance between the flower and the mountain appears to be a mile -- the camera can see that distance however it wants, longer or shorter, depending on how you set it. (FYI, if you put a 50mm lens on your camera (that's 50mm in 35mm format...it's about 30mm in a non-full-frame D-SLR), that 50mm lens will cause the distance in the photo to appear about the same as your eyes (about a mile). That's why the 50mm lens is often called the "normal" lens -- because it sees distance the same as you would "normally" with your eyes. Now here's where things get creative -- any other lens besides 50mm will actually completely change the appearance of that distance between the flower and the mountain. The wider you "zoom out", the more the distance between the flower and the mountain is visibly "stretched". The more you "zoom in" the closer the distance between the two. The key here is that you must move your body by walking closer or farther to keep the flower the same size in the frame. For instance, if your starting position is 10 feet away from the flower and you zoom out, the flower will get very small, so you'll have to walk closer to the flower to keep it the same size in the picture. However, because you've zoomed out, the optical properties of the lens will cause the distance between the mountain and the flower in the photo to have greatly increased. While the photo taken at 50mm will have it appear that the mountain is a mile away, the exact same photo taken at 10mm will have the mountain look many many miles away -- but the flower will be in the exact same spot. In fact, the mountain might be tiny, perhaps smaller than the flower now. Similarly, if you zoom in, there is the opposite effect. Let's say you decide to shoot at 200mm. Of course, you will need to step pretty far back from the flower to keep it the same size in the frame. Maybe many yards/meters away. When you look at the final photo, the mountain that previously appeared to be a mile away when you shot at 50mm, may now appear to be right on top of the flower, perhaps just behind it by a few feet. This is the magic of focal length. This may come into play in almost any photo you take. If you're taking a picture of a friend or spouse, it is entirely up to you to decide what you want behind your subject. If you're in a city, you can make it appear that an entire cityscape is behind them by zooming out and stepping closer, or you can zoom in, step far away, and put them practically inside one building! It's really up to you. My advice is to think about this every time you click the shutter. Think about the subject and the background, and how you want each to appear, and make a conscious choice. That's what photography is all about!
FYI, you can try this right from your living room. Place a glass of water on a coffee table and stand so that whatever is behind the glass is at least a few feet away. Zoom to your widest lens setting and frame the shot so that the bottom of the glass is as the bottom of the picture, and the top of the glass is about halfway up the frame. Make sure you can see what's behind the glass and re-adjust your position in the room as necessary. Take the shot. Now we'll take a 2nd shot. Zoom in to your longest focal length and frame the picture the same way by putting the bottom of the glass at the bottom of the picture, and the top of the glass about half-way. When you're zoomed in, you may have to step quite a ways back, probably up against a wall. If you can't get back far enough, just zoom out a little until the glass is halfway up the frame. Take the shot. Now compare the two shots on your LCD. The glass of water should look exactly the same, but the background in the second one will be much much closer.
Fun Fact: Did you ever wonder why professional photographers who shoot models (say for Sports Illustrated calendars or advertisements) shoot with these incredibly long lenses from half way across the beach? It's because "zooming in" and shooting with a long focal length as described above compresses distance...and they're actually compressing the model's face. By shooting at a long focal length like 200mm, you are making the tip of the nose appear closer to the rest of the face (than it is in real life), making the nose smaller, which is usually considered flattering. That's why the "portrait lens" is generally 85mm to 135mm (way more than 50mm!). To use this to your advantage, always try to take photos of people from a reasonably far distance at one of those longer focal lengths (zoomed in). It makes a big difference!
I've also created an app for iPhone, Android, and iPod Touch which teaches you photography -- more info can be found here:
Photography Trainer for iPhone and Android
Photography Trainer iPhone app
If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know...
http://www.timpaphotography.com/
To keep up-to-date with the latest photo additions and other topics, you can also become a fan at my Photography Facebook page at:
Paul Timpa Photography's Facebook Page
If you'd like to purchase prints or stock photography licenses for my photos (for advertising and editorial use), please visit:
http://www.timpaphotography.com/purchase
Best,
Paul
Copyright 2009, Paul Timpa
Welcome to Paul Timpa Photography's Blog
Snorkeling in Moorea, French Polynesia
Welcome to Paul Timpa Photography! This is my Wordpress blog for TimpaPhotography.com. http://www.timpaphotography.com/
I’m a New York City based photographer who captures high-impact images of travel and architecture for advertising, publishing, and corporate clients. My style often incorporates long exposures, dramatic lighting, and unique viewpoints to bring out the beauty of the locations I shoot.
I'm also the designer of the iPhone app Photography Trainer for iPhone and iPod Touch
Thanks for visiting...
If you'd like to purchase prints or stock photography licenses for my photos (for advertising and editorial use), please visit:
http://www.timpaphotography.com/purchase
To keep up-to-date with the latest photo additions and other topics, you can also become a fan at my Photography Facebook page at:
Paul Timpa Photography's Facebook Page
Best,
Paul
Copyright 2009, Paul Timpa
