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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> CSLR 118 - Layered (hosted by Nico Conradie) >> Eligible > Dangerous Landing
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25-APR-2008 Victor Engel

Dangerous Landing

Austin, TX

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
30s f/16.0 at 85.0mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time25-Apr-2008 21:56:17
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 5D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length85 mm
Exposure Time30.00 sec
Aperturef/16
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Mode (-1)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (1)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Canon DSLR Challenge30-Apr-2008 07:26
Thanks for mentioning the little wisps. I enjoy those, too, and spent extra time in post making sure they were visible, even at this reduced resolution. It was difficult to do without blowing out the bright portions. On this image, I probably spent more time on layer masks than on the layers or main image for this very reason. -- Victor
Alan Mars30-Apr-2008 06:51
I have always wanted to do one of these. Unfortunately, it usually starts raining HEAVILY before lightning strikes and I don't have the proper protective gear for my camera yet to be outside in torrential downpours yet. Nice capture! This is my goal in the near future! I LOVE the little wisps of lightning coming from the main bolts on the center top ones... EXCELLENT!!!
jnconradie26-Apr-2008 16:12
Thanks, Victor, for taking the time and trouble to give the background and the "how it was done" comments. This is most gracious of you. Kind regards Nico
Canon DSLR Challenge26-Apr-2008 15:11
I probably should have mentioned that I was going to change the color balance but decided not to, in order to have something as unchanged as possible. This odd color is the result of a combination of artificial light from street lights combined with the color of the lightning itself. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge26-Apr-2008 15:08
I'm probably not a very good person to give lessons, since I don't often take lightning pictures, unless the lesson you wish to take is to have patience. Last night was a time of experimentation. Despite the low ISO on a 5D, there was a surprising amount of noise from the long exposure. I used the custom function to use a noise subtraction frame, which, unfortunately, caused me to miss the best lightning strike of the evening. I finally concluded that I could either take lots of frames with a low percentage of keepers or few frames with a relatively higher rate by increasing the exposure. I took pictures nonstop for about an hour, and only about 5 of them had significant lightning. I was using a 135mm lens for the first part, and I would have used my 50mm had I remembered that it's in my glove compartment! A number of the pictures had lightning off frame when it was windier. This caused an interesting effect where the trees were blurry and sharp, sometimes double. They weren't as interesting as this one, though.

Anyway, this particular frame was composed and timed for the plane, not the lightning. I was lucky that lightning happened to strike during the exposure. The plane can be seen near the bottom of the picture, passing behind the trees (look for the flashing lights).

-- Victor
jnconradie26-Apr-2008 08:17
Stunning capture, Victor! I am not sure that I catch the title though? Are you referring to airtraffic that had to land during this storm? I need to take lessons in lightning photography from you. I live in a part of the world with very high lightning density too, yet I have not even a single photograph of this spectacle of nature. Regards Nico