Caught in a lightning storm near Leyburn

[naskies]

This past Tuesday, I bought a Honda generator, packed my van full of camping and astro gear, and eagerly drove out to Leyburn for a week's worth of shooting under dark skies.

On Thursday afternoon, I heard a distant rumbling which sounded like the neighbours making a racket. Half an hour later, I saw a flash of light in the sky, looked into the distance, and saw a ferocious storm approaching.

I packed up all my gear - faster than I'd ever done so before - and was out of there quick smart. I stopped in the driveway just long enough to snap a panorama with my iPhone (see pic #2)... a menacing sight!

As I was heading home on the highway, the winds picked up and I saw tumbleweeds and tree branches flying everywhere, kangaroos and rabbits madly running across the road wide-eyed, and could see that the storm was about to overtake me.

I found a safe spot to park - well off the highway, downwind of a large open paddock, but half way between a large tree and a metal rainwater tank (in case of lightning) - and waited it out.

The lightning storm approached me, passed almost directly overhead, but luckily I was unscathed. Very scary! Several of the closer strikes were bright enough to leave me temporarily "blind" for 10-20 sec!

The only imaging gear I could reach without leaving the car was my Canon 5DmkII and kit lens (24-105), so here are a few snaps - mostly handheld, braced against the car window and dashboard.

The BOM's weather forecast for the day...? "Possible chance of isolated shower or storm." :rofl:


Click on links for larger images:

#1 Animated GIF of lightning in the sky (iPhone in movie mode, handheld): GIF (http://itee.uq.edu.au/~davel/_temp/Lightning-Small.gif), MP4 (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/Lightning.mp4)

#2 Panorama of the approaching storm cell as I was leaving the observing site (iPhone's iOS 6 panorama mode). The vertical "stitch lines" are all the lightning strikes that occurred in the ~ 10 seconds it took to shoot the panorama. The road in the bottom-right corner leads to the observing field (white dots are observatory roofs).

Other photos are composites taken through my windshield and driver's side windows:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStormComposite1-Large.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStormComposite2-Large.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStormComposite3-Large.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStormComposite4-Large.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStormComposite5-Large.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStormComposite6-Large.jpg

[naskies]

One more composite:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStormComposite7-Large.jpg

These are single 5 sec frames:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStorm1-Large.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13644418/iis/LightningStorm2-Large.jpg

I've also attached an unedited, straight-out-of-camera frame (5 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, 24 mm). There was a lightning strike every 5 - 10 secs... which was particularly scary being in the middle of the storm and seeing them literally in every direction - including directly above me! :eyepop:

By the way, the red/pink colours are real. Inside the storm itself, everything was clearly red/pink to the naked eye, but after it had passed it returned back to the normal white/grey colours.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

That's some scary stuff Dave!!

You really caught some cracker images.

Cheers,

Justin.

[gregbradley]

You got some great captures there Dave.

Greg.

[RickS]

Great images, Dave! Must have been scary but now that you're safe and the event is over it was all worthwhile :thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

some pearlers in that lot - and maybe some rather soiled underware?

[leon]

Beautiful stuff, you are a lucky fella indeed,

Leon

[Larryp]

Great photos, Dave!

[naskies]

Thanks Justin!



Thanks Rick! Now that I'm safe at home, I'm kicking myself for not "risking it" to grab the other cameras, tripod, etc :lol:



Thanks David! Not quite that bad, luckily... but I'll certainly have more empathy when my German shepherd freaks out at the next thunderstorm :)



Thanks Leon!



Thanks Larry!

[jjjnettie]

:) Awesome shots !

[naskies]

Thanks jjj!

[CapturingTheNight]

Great shots Dave :thumbsup:

[colinmlegg]

Amazing Dave. I can relate to your fear and regrets after the fact, mate. So hard to make rational decisions in the heat of the moment.

[astronobob]

Luv It Dave, Another Massive Light Show out Leyburn Last Night, Dang, I was home : ( A few others were grabbing Photo,s ! Good OnYas ! !

[Derek Klepp]

Great shots Dave alot more intense than the storm I saw on Wednes day.

[iceman]

Wow, amazing shots.

[MrB]

Nice storm and pics Dave. I would have loved to be in that!
I have stacks of purple lightning shots, it is pretty normal.
I have no idea why they are purple tho, guess I should try to find out one day ;)

[midnight]

Electrifying Dave!

Great captures there. We don't see many storms over here in the West but with TC Narelle coming down the coast, we may get a chance.

Darrin...

[naskies]

Thanks Greg!



I think fear of lightning must be very primal/limbic... I wonder what the safety aspects of being close to lightning are? I may have to do some reading on storm chasing boards...



Thanks Bob! I hope they got some good ones. In retrospect, I wish I had the bravado to drive up closer to the lightning strikes on the open plains and use the 14 mm lens... would've been spectacular! Then again, at least I'm alive to tell the tale.



Thanks Derek. Yes indeed - I weathered through the storm on the Wed night. A couple of big strikes, but nothing too scary. When I saw the storm front approaching on Thurs arvo, my immediate reaction was "pack up and leave NOW".



Thanks Mike!



I would have happily traded places with you at the time! :rofl:

It was actually quite interesting though, because earlier in the afternoon there were some low clouds floating by. I noticed that they all seemed to be coming from different directions and converging at a spot close by, but I'd thought they must have been different cloud layers. I guess they were all being sucked into the vortex!

I assume the purple is something to do with the air/moisture being ionised by the lightning?



Thanks Darrin! We get big storms during the summer in SE QLD all the time. I've seen enough tennis ball sized hail and giant trees being torn to shreds to know to stay clear of them :)

[ourkind]

Awesome!! :thumbsup:

[naskies]

Thanks Carlos!

I think I forgot to mention earlier... all the DSLR shots were taken at 24 mm (full frame), with only minor cropping to straighten horizons. That is, they struck very, very close!