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All of the lightning photographs where taken with a time exposure.
Depending on the storm, the f-stop was around F8-5.6 and the speed of the
film was 100. The time each photo was exposed varies depending on the
photograph. All of my lightning photos were taken at night to reduce any
extra and unwanted light (day light) from washing out the photo.
In general, taking photographs of lightning requires a couple of things.
The first is that you are not too close to the storm. If you are in the
storm, not only is there the danger of being struck by the lightning you
are trying to photograph, but also the rain from that storm will usually
result in washed out photographs (the light from the lightning illuminates
the rain so what you get a photo of is the rain drops and not the
lightning). It is better to take the photographs from a bit of a distance
from the storm.
The second is patience. People always ask me how to take photographs of
lightning. Now you don't try to take the photograph as the lightning
strikes because lightning is always going to be faster than you can push
the button on your camera. Instead you need to use a time exposure. What
I usually do is watch a storm for a few minutes to figure out which
direction it is moving. I then point the camera to where I believe the
storm is moving. I then pick a couple of 'land marks' on the left and right
side of the photograph so while the camera shutter is open I have an idea
of what the camera is seeing (you can't look through an SLR camera while
the shutter is open). Then using a shutter release I open the shutter and I
start counting and watching. With the land marks, I know what lightning
is/isn't going to be in the photograph. If there is a good lightning
strike, or several, then I go to the next frame (photograph). If I've
counted to about 5 minutes, then I go to the next frame regardless. Usually
if I get to 5 minutes, the storm is more or less over (since there wasn't
anything I considered good enough to make me go to the next frame).
If you plan on taking photographs, be VERY careful. Do not be in the storm.
If you are in the storm, make sure you are inside a building and are
protected just in case a lightning strike decides to find you (lightning is
extremely unpredictable). Be prepared to take a lot of photographs. When I
first started it would be common for me to shoot 36 photos and not get
anything or to get parts of strikes. You will notice that many of the
photographs have a purple hue to them. This results from the long time
exposures (film color does different things when exposed for anything more
than several seconds).
Anyway, enjoy.
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