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Sean's World of Adventure and Astonishment
Lightning

If you don't mind getting a bit wet and standing on a tall hill then lightning photographs are your thing.

Taken from IBM Almaden Research Center

This Almaden Valley at about 8:00pm in August from IBM Almaden Research Center near Santa Teresa County Park.

Also taken from IBM Almaden Research Center.

In this photo the light from the sodium vapor lamps of the city below and the lightning mix on the film to produce these colors. It took 10 minutes for my scanner to grock this slide.

In order to take pictures like this you need a sturdy tripod and a camera which either has bulb mode (just keeps the shutter open as long as you press the button) or multiple exposure mode. If you use bulb mode then you will need a remote switch (otherwise you hand will get tired) and a watch to time the exposure. Otherwise set the camera to take multiple exposures. I did not have a remote switch nor a watch so these pictures are taken using three 30 second exposures. This film is Kodak Ecktachrome 100 ISO film, so you may need to adjust your exposure duration if you are using faster or slower film. Once you have the camera set up you will need to focus it. This can be challenging if you lense does not manually focus well (like the one I was using). In this case choose some distant lights, in this scene the city lights, and just have the auto focus lock on them. Then disable the autofocus. Now your ready for action; just point the camera in some direction where you expect lightning and hope it appears on your camera. Have lots of film handy and be prepared to jump in your car when the lightning heads your way.