A view towards Brisbane tonight 09-10-07

[[1ponders]]

A bit of a light show in the direction of Brisbane this evening. These were down towards Cabulture. I counted the seconds before the thunder got here and got boomed at 80 sec :eyepop: I'm glad I wasn't under it.

[iceman]

Brilliant! How long was the exposure? Is that several bolts in the one exposure?

[jjjnettie]

Grrreat pic Paul.
What was your exposure time?

[Astroman]

wow 80 seconds, pretty far away :) Prefer the Flash-Bang types myself usually <200m. Good stuff, nicely exposed.

[[1ponders]]

Thanks guys, it was certainly fun. The sky was brilliantly clear above me until about 20 deg from zenith then is was just a solid wall of clouds to the south. I was really hoping that some cloud edge lightening would start up, but no such luck.

That was a single shot Mike with all strikes simultaneous. I open the shutter and as soon as the bolts went of I closed the shutter. I'm working my way through quite a few other shots but that one really stood out :P

How has it been out at your place this week Jeanette. You'd be picking up a few flash/bangs out your way.

Andrew, the cells where these came from were hitting Cabulture which is about 30-40 km in a straight line.

[Chrissyo]

Great shot! What time was it taken? I was driving home from Caboolture station at about 7:45pm. It was an interesting drive. :P

[[1ponders]]

:lol: I bet it was Chris. This was taken at 6:47.

[h0ughy]

fantastic shot Paul

[[1ponders]]

Here's a gentler one from a short time later.

[davewaldo]

Nice ones Paul!

[okiscopey]

I thought the first shot was great ... but the second one's even better!

[Dennis]

Fantastic photos Paul, we're glad we were not on the receiving end! On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday the storms passed just to the N and S of where we live in Brisbane, although Sunday’s winds were terrifying even at the edge of the cell.

Our rainwater tank received its first water since I installed it, although there wasn't much rain where we are.

Cheers

Dennis

[jjjnettie]

I've got to admit, if I can't observe the stars at night, electrical storms are an acceptable alternative.

Got only 4mm of rain out of it though.

[DeanoNZL]

Great shot Paul.
Always have been interested in lightning, from an electrical perspective.
The width of the bolt is very striking, current wise.
This from the net...
"Most strike measurements have been in the range 5,000 to 20,000 amps but a famous strike just before the Apollo 15 launch in 1971 was measured at 100,000 amperes by magnetic links attached to the umbilical tower. Currents over 200,000 amps have been reported."

I have seen the effects of a front hoe digger hitting a 100,000v 5000amp underground line.
3/4 of the shovel vanished.
100,000amps, or greater would be "WOW":scared:

[joshman]

agreed, as an 'electrician in training' the electrical aspect of lightning is pretty awesome...such potential...:lol:

[RB]

What a cracker of a shot Paul !!
And I love the second one as well, awesome composition.

I'm so envious, I'd love to take some lighting shots like these.

:thumbsup:

[[1ponders]]

I sent the first one into the local Channel 7 News for use at the end of the weather. They liked it so much it got used in the main news story and even came out and interviewed me for part of the segment. :lol: How cool :lol:

And to think you knew me here first :D :whistle: Get in quick before the autographs become investment items :lol:

[iceman]

haha well done Paul! Local celebrity!

Were you wearing a certain shirt and beanie at the time? ;)

[[1ponders]]

No Mike sorry, I was at work at the time and wasn't expecting an interview otherwise I would have definately had them on.

Next time I'll be better prepared :D

[iceman]

You just never know when the media will come beating down your door Paul!

[[1ponders]]

I know ....ho hum......... how do you manage to deal with it?



:rofl:

[Dennis]

Hmmmm...Methinks we have a new, emerging media tart to wrestle the IIS "media idol" crown from Mike and H0ughy…

Cheers

Dennis

[RB]

Careful Paul, the paparazzi might think U2's in town.

:lol:

[[1ponders]]

:lol:

[h0ughy]

no worries there - Mike has it hands down at the moment - unless Paul strips live on tv:whistle: