Photographing lightning is a misunderstood technique that’s actually quite easy to do… once you learn the basics.
Most people seem to think that you have to have a quick trigger finger. They think that you wait to see the flash of lightning, then quickly press the shutter button. Truth is, this technique might actually work… I’ve never tried it but some forms of lightning seem to linger in the sky for 1/4 sec or more… so if you have a fast enough finger and camera you might be able to catch the tail end of the flash.
But, if you want to learn the proper way to shoot lightning and get the whole flash!-boom!-bang!… read on!
This is a 30 second exposure at f/13 and ISO 200. I set the shutter at 30 sec, then adjusted the aperture until the temple was properly exposed. Louang Prabang, Laos.
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