Need some advice about taking photos of storms..

[KevinJB88]

Well down my way near Dover, the last two nights we have had bad storms, however the best photo I have taken is this shite attempt:



Can anyone give me some advice on how to get it focused and just generally a better photo?

[muttleymacclad]

I reckon you've done well to get that.

Will be very difficult to get a perfect storm shot esp at night. You obviously need a very fast shutter speed so will need a wide open exposure and or high ISO.

Here's some good advice.

http://www.lightningphotography.com/tips.html

The wider aperture will also have implications for DOF and you'll also need to focus at infinity.

Very tricky, also a lot of patience needed too.

MML

[B B Leo]

the pic itself not the best quality m8 but well done capturing the lighting

[[wingnut]]

You are going to know roughly where the lightening will strike, so watch it for a while first to, then use the bulb feature so you can leave the shutter wide open, use a wide aperture and go from there, the linked site has some sound advice or check out lightening picture groups on flickr.
But as it is mother nature it will be a serious game of suck it and see, you did well to get that shot without any knowledge of how to capture lightening, so just learn from what you did.

[neo2810]

Yep, the concept is very much like shooting fireworks. I wouldnt use a very wide aperture, possibly F8 or F11 but bang on bulb and wait for the lightshow....