Any tips on taking pictures of lightning with a quality digital camera?

Answer 1

Lie on your back, point the camera towards the sky beneath a flag pole during an electrical storm. When a bolt of lightning strikes the pole (and you) you'll push the button at that exact moment. You'll probably have one hell of a Kodak moment.
BYE!

Answer 2

Hey - funny you asked this, I was just outside taking pictures of lightning!
My method is that I set my camera up with my wide angle lens and the mini tripod (for easy transport) and set my shutter to stay open for anywhere from 5-8 seconds (any longer than that and the picture usually becomes too bright when the lightning strikes). I just keep taking a picture hoping that lightning will strike while my shutter is open. (It's the Tv setting on my Canon digital camera)
I have tried the continous shutter method where you hold the shutter release button down and it keeps snapping photos, but the open shutter works best for me.
I'm posting you links to some of my lightning photos.

-I should mention 5-8 seconds is what I have been using for night time lightning. 5 seconds is what I've used in the below shots and has seemed to work best for me. I agree that 8 is probably too long, I generally stick to 5 or 6.

Answer 3

The easiest way is to set the camera on bulb mode and walk away. However, if there is a lot of movement in the image, this isn't the most feasible way.

Another option as mentioned is setting a shutter speed of 3 - 5 seconds with an aperature set based on a reading of the ambient light. However, again, you have to guess when the lighting is going to strike. There is a good chance that if you can see the lighting, it's too late to photograph it.

Answer 4

Bean, 5 to 8 seconds is probably too bright already depends on the condition of the sky. If it is a cloudy night, the light will scatter and your picture will look too bright. I usually keep it around 1.5 to 3 seconds. My setup is similar to your. I like to mount my camera on a steady tripod and connect it to my shutter remote cable. Set your zoom to widest angle possible and keep the aperture to at least F4. I would study the pattern of where lightning would mostly strike and I just snap a lot of photographies to get a few good one. I have many photos I took that way.

Answer 5

I think the best shots have been with a camera that was set up to take time lapse pictures and they waitied for a storm and just let the camera do it's thing. Does your camera take video clips too and can you isolate each "frame" for printing. That would work. I guess there are some more competent photographers than me out there who could better advise you.