I've just treated myself to an early Christmas present and bought a Lightning Trigger from the IIS shop. I thought I'd get one early as Nov/Dec is usually a good time for storms around my area.
A big thanks to Mardy (Blackwidow) for his superfast email to confirm postage and tracking numbers with Aus Post.
To help lessen the learning curve if there are any users out there who would like to share any tip or tricks regarding shutter speeds, lens sizes, ISO etc, it would be all gratefully appreciated.
I was thinking about the scenario of buying a new scope which leads to a fortnight of cloud. Technically the purchase of a Lightning Trigger should lead to a fortnight of clear skies.
I was thinking about the scenario of buying a new scope which leads to a fortnight of cloud. Technically the purchase of a Lightning Trigger should lead to a fortnight of clear skies.
Here's an idea:
At about 4:00 pm, announce loudly (so that the sky gods can hear you) that you're planning on doing a spot of solar observing this afternoon before sunset - that should trigger 100% cloud cover, and (hopefully) some nice storm activity.
Then at about 7:00 pm, proclaim loudly that you're enjoying the show, and you hope it persists well into the night so you can capture lots of night-time lightning strikes. That should guarantee a sudden clearing of the skies, and you can get your telescope out!
Ah, come on Ric, what happened to the hit and miss old fashioned way, ya know, one points his camera to one spot and then the strike is to the left, oh, better point that way and then it strikes to the right.
Get yourself some good ND filters, ND8 and ND4's. Use the trigger for Daytime/sunrise/sunset Storms where there is still some ambient light around. With the ND filters try and aim for around 1/8 sec or slower with your exposure, this way you have the shutter open longer to catch any after strikes or the finish of the strike and don't cut it short. Don't try and close the aperture too much you may miss some of the fainter parts of the strike, something between f5.6 and f11 is enough. For night lightning, depending on your location and how dark it is around you, you can get away without the trigger and just keep the shutter open for a few seconds and adjust aperture so the strikes aren't too blown out. Once the strike happens if using Bulb mode, you can then release the shutter and hopefully you have your strike. For daytime shots the pulsier the strikes the better, the quick ones sometimes get missed, depending on the camera used and how fast it's shutter delay is.
Look forward to seeing the results. Good luck, stay safe.
Ah, come on Ric, what happened to the hit and miss old fashioned way, ya know, one points his camera to one spot and then the strike is to the left, oh, better point that way and then it strikes to the right.
Leon
Onya Leon that's the method I've been using. I have better luck herding cats.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Astroman
Get yourself some good ND filters, ND8 and ND4's. Use the trigger for Daytime/sunrise/sunset Storms where there is still some ambient light around. With the ND filters try and aim for around 1/8 sec or slower with your exposure, this way you have the shutter open longer to catch any after strikes or the finish of the strike and don't cut it short. Don't try and close the aperture too much you may miss some of the fainter parts of the strike, something between f5.6 and f11 is enough. For night lightning, depending on your location and how dark it is around you, you can get away without the trigger and just keep the shutter open for a few seconds and adjust aperture so the strikes aren't too blown out. Once the strike happens if using Bulb mode, you can then release the shutter and hopefully you have your strike. For daytime shots the pulsier the strikes the better, the quick ones sometimes get missed, depending on the camera used and how fast it's shutter delay is.
Look forward to seeing the results. Good luck, stay safe.
I agree with much of Andrews post however I have never used an ND filter with mine before but that may be a useful idea for when it is daylight.
I set the ISO to as low as it can go and for exposure it is a case of trial and error depending on surroundings and lens.
As the storms were pretty close I took these recently with a 50mm lens and 18mm, it was just at sunset but still pretty dark so I used a 2 second exposure for both.
I stopped it at f5.6 but sometimes go to around 8.0.
After that I just set the trigger and went back down stairs to enjoy the storm with a beer and the family.
One thing I have noticed though is if it is during sunset and the lighting is rapidly darkening I will start at as long a short exposure as possible without overblowing the pic, as Andrew say 1/8 or as long as you can go but you do need to be on hand to set it longer as it gets darker.
oh, better point that way and then it strikes to the right.
