How is it possible to take still pictures of lightning?

Question

Title explains all.

All good answers hard to decide.

Answer 1

With a film camera, it isn't really all that hard -- mostly luck is needed.

Start with a fairly slow film, 100 ASA or slower. Post your camera on a solid tripod, pointing toward the area where you think there will be some lightning. Stop the aperture down to the minimum, so that a long exposure is needed. Then open the shutter on a timed-exposure using a cable release (to minimize camera shake), and hope that a lightning bolt happens to pass through the field of view during the exposure. If the shutter closes before a lightning bolt strikes, advance the film, and try again. Repeat as necessary until you end up with a lightning bolt.

I've used the same basic procedure to take pictures of fireworks, and some star trails.

A digital camera can do the same thing, and has the advantage that you can view your photo right then and there, but I have less experience with digital SLRs, so I'm not sure how easily you can change the settings to manual and such.

I hope that helps.

Answer 2

I think your question is actually about how cameras work more than lightning...

Cameras work by having a piece of film or photographic plate or an electronic sensor which is sensitive to light. In film, the light that strikes the film discolors it. In electronic sensors the individual photons of light are, essentially, turned into electrons. The more light that shines, the more the film is discolored and the larger charge the sensor has.

The camera has a piece of plastic or paper in front of the sensor/film called a shutter. The shutter is black and doesnt let any light reach the sensor/film. When you take a picture, you are opening the shutter to allow light in, and then you let some time pass, and the shutter closes. The amount of time that the shutter is open is called the 'exposure time' (the amount of time that the film/sensor is exposed to light)

If you open the shutter on a dark night, and lightening flashes, even though the lightening only flashes for a very small fraction of a second, it still releases lots of photons (light!) that will reach the camera and make it visible in the image.

This is also why if you have a camera and take a picture on a dark night, and if you move the camera a bit the image will come out blurry.

Answer 3

Time lapse and guessing are two ways, but they can use up a lot of film. There is another. Most lightning comes in multiple arcs, sometimes over a period of a second or two. If you use a light-activated shutter release, you will probably catch one of the secondary arcs. I would recommend a 1/4 to 1/2 second exposure. Can't say what film speed, but experiment with exposure time to get the kind of image you want.

If you can set the sensitivity and direction of the light detector, you can even avoid having a picture taken unless the lightning is actually in your camera's visual field.

And if you are quick enough, you might even be able to take the picture manually, if you get one of those extended multiple strikes. The problem with this, as well as with the guessing and time lapse methods, is that you can never know exactly where to aim your camera. Of course, many of these problems become trivial concerns if you are using digital. Then all you need is patience.

Answer 4

Luck.

The lightning has to strike in the short period of time that the camera is recording the image.

Answer 5

Time-lapse photography is easiest. Open the shutter, wait for a bolt or two to strike, close the shutter.

Answer 6

You take a camera that take like 300 pic each sec!