If you need photography tips to capture all those spectacular thunderstorms this summer, these 10 Tips for Capturing Lightning will help you do that.
I have long been in awe of images of lightning. It’s such a raw & powerful thing & since it happens so quickly, it can be difficult to capture. But I think this is why I was so drawn to learning how to capture it. There are many ways to do it & each photographer might have different tips. But these are the ways I have found most successful with my own photos.
1. Start with the sky relatively dark. I have tried as early as 6-7 p.m. & this still wasn’t quite dark enough since the summer nights start so late. You are going to have your shutter open for a long time- so obviously if it’s too light out you will capture nothing but white.
2. Use a tripod set in an area with a sturdy surface preferably with some cover in case you start to get rain. The last thing you want is to have to abort your time capturing because you are getting wet.
3. Use a wide angle lens. For these I used my kit lens (18-55mm) because it is the widest one I have. Because it doesn’t have too much range in it’s focal length, it’s still pretty sharp. You never know where the strikes will hit. I can’t tell you how many times I saw one come down & it was just outside my frame. I was bummed.
4. I also like to find a wide open spot. I know that most places are not so open as we are here in the desert- so finding a wide open view that also has cover can be hard. But sometimes capturing what the lightning looks like through trees & having that view of the “whole scene” can really make the shots something special.
5. I like to set my ISO low so I have a nice sharp image- usually either 100 or 200.
6. I set my aperture to f/7 or so to make sure I am able to capture everything I see in focus. I have made the mistake of having it too open & ended up with the foreground in focus & the actual lightning was out of focus. So this is something I really feel is imperative.
7. Shutter- set to 30 seconds. For these images I was just pressing the button every 30 seconds- I have just recently started using my remote to set it to bulb & leave it open longer. That is your choice & depends on the frequency of the bolts. All of the shots in this post are from the same evening. The storm was very active & so I was capturing at least one bolt with every 30 seconds the shutter was open. That totally helped & it went on for hours. So if you are like me & you think you might miss something spectacular if you go inside- have a battery backup charged & ready to go. I sat outside for 4+ hours with this storm, leaving my shutter open every 30 seconds for the entire time. I pulled up a stool & just enjoyed the show.
8. Because of the low light- you are going to want to focus manually. This can be a pain- but I usually find something to get my focus on in the foreground & do a few test shots. Then I zoom in to my maximum I can on my screen to make sure everything is crisp before spending all the time capturing for hours only to find out they are all out of focus & should go in the trash. Once you get that focus- don’t move unless you have to. Otherwise you have to start all over with getting your focus & then you might miss something awesome.
9. Be patient. I can’t stress this enough because while I had many captures in this particular storm- they don’t all come with multiple bolts within a 30 second period of time. There is a suggestion in the link I mentioned above that you can layer your images in processing if you like to get the desired effect you might be after. I have not tried this. I like to leave my images as true to what it really looked like, so I don’t enhance them in that way. Which leads me to my next point…
10. Don’t over process. All of these images I opened in ACR & adjusted the clarity & sometimes the temperature if needed. Sometimes the lights from houses can come out very orange or yellow when the shutter is open that long- I feel it detracts from the real excitement of what I was out there to capture- so I always try to tone those house lights down. Other than that- I sharpen & that is it. Sometimes I will crop in as you have seen in some of these- but for the most part I really like to have the foreground showing to give scale to the storm over the neighborhood. That is my personal taste though.
Have a great time
Created by Gina Kleinworth
Reader Interactions
oh wow these shots are amazing! I’ve always wanted to capture lightning, but we so rarely ever get any in LA. Your tips are great too!
That is something I would love to capture, just haven’t been in the right place at the right time. Although a week ago I did get a waterspout over the bay. Great captures and tips!!
WOW! These are fabulous, Gina! Living in Pennsylvania we have so many hills and trees around us that it is hard to see lighting, let alone capture it on film. One of these days though. I am determined to do this. Thanks for the inspiration!
Absolutely beautiful. I’ve tried to capture lightning before but because I’m so new at this, I didn’t really have any idea what I was doing. Did you know just standing outside and snapping is not a good method? LOL I can’t wait to try your tips. Have a great weekend.
Amazing. Great suggestions. I agree with the ISO being low, grainy pics ruin it for me. I wish we had wide open spaces for lightning, maybe someday I’ll get lucky!
These are BEYOND beautiful but I am the BIGGEST chicken when it comes to lighting so I could never do it ha 🙂 Amazing captures indeed!