Lightning!

Ever since I was a kid, there was one thing I've always wanted to do. The one thing that perhaps most profoundly impacted my desire to become good at photography/filming was to take pictures of lightning. I've always thought lightning pictures were cool. I've just never had a chance to try it. Well now that I have my new camera and was in a good location, I got to try it. This past weekend, Krista and I went to the beach with her parents, Micah and Whitney. Both nights, storms were blowing towards the west (offshore). This provided a great opportunity for me to try my hand at lightning photography. It turned out to be easier than I expected. The storms were probably 10-15 miles away and I was under clear skies so I was in no danger of being hit myself. I set up my camera on Nate's tripod (thanks mate), and set the shutter to 30s and the aperture as wide as it could go (f4.3 to f5.6 depending on zoom). I kind of wish I had a cable release so I could lock the shutter open longer and have a bit more flexibility, but that will have to wait. So that said, here are my pictures. They are best viewed closeup, so if you like any click on them and go to the web album.