Lightning - close call

[southern 40]

Hi folks , friend of mine when he gets the chance takes some great lightning shots from his back yard using an old Panasonic handy cam , his latest effort was a close call :scared: heres a still from 10/10/2007 showing a bolt which came about ten feet from him , we think it also hit the house next door but can't slow the film down enough to get any more stills from it.Anyone know of a free program for Mac's which has super slow motion let me know:)

[h0ughy]

man, that would give you a tingle even being that close to it!!!

[dugnsuz]

Holy crap!!
Too close for comfort there...
Doug

[bkm2304]

I remember running along Merewether Beach in Newcastle with a mate about 25 years ago. It was just after a storm and there was still dark cloud and mist. I looked over at him and his hair was standing on end! He looked at me at the same time and saw mine was too - we both had hair in those days! As we ran along it slowly dropped. So then we turned around and ran back and at the same spot up it went again. We thought it funny but later learned that it meant "strike imminent" Lucky/silly us! :cool3::cool3:

Richard

[sheeny]

I remember a mate at school standing out in the quadrangle with his hair on end... it was a great laugh till one of the science teachers bellowed and left us in no doubt about the seriousness of the situation!

My closest call with lightning was one night lying in bed...

(pause to let your imagination play with that!)...

eyes closed, heavy curtains drawn, pitch black night and stormy outside... then it was instantly bright, BRIGHT white and very loud! It's the only time I've seen pure white light through my eyelids!:eyepop:

We think it hit the house next door or the telegraph pole outside. No serious damage done (might have lost the odd plug pack I think...:shrug: it was a while ago now:)).


Al.

[southern 40]

sounds like a close call Richard :scared: my friend Kev was shielding camera with his hands from the rain so was side on to lightning and only sort of saw it out corner of his eye ,no hair raising but was really loud, heres another from the series kind of looks like it hits the house

[leon]

There great, gee i love lightning, nothing better than the rumble of thunder and strikes going every where, yea i know I'm a bit strange. :whistle:

Leon :thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

Ahhhh, they are the pics you were talking about, Bazz!

WOW!



Join the club, Leon. Me and my boys love standing outside watching it!!!!
until it's too close to be out there :whistle:

[leon]

Yea Ken, it must be the air around here. :rofl: :rofl:

Leon :thumbsup:

[Tamtarn]

That's scary being that close. :scared:

[Astroman]

That first strike looks like internal lens reflection, quite common during storms whilst videoing, especially if the lightning is reasonable close to you. It is quite often mistaken for a "close" strike. The actual bolt causing the reflection would most likely be just infront and above the photographer. The second shows the main return stroke although it is washed out due to the camera not being able to handle the sudden changes in brightness levels..

[jjjnettie]

Quicktime Pro is supposed to be very good.
Here's a link to some free programs that might be suitable too.
www.download.com/3150-2200_4-0-1-0.html?qt=&rows=10&start=0&operatingSystemId=93&licenseTypeId=49&fileSize=&ca=

[jjjnettie]

I was riding down on the mudflats at Sandgate when I decided to cut the ride short as there were some pretty nasty clouds building up quickly to the south. I didn't want to be on the horse with metal stirrups, metal bit etc if the storm hit.
Once back at the paddock I unsaddled and gave my horse his dinner. I was standing about 5ft away watching him eat when lightning struck between us.
I was floored, I hit the deck like I was pole axed. The bang it created was literally deafening. I thought it was the noise that made me go down, I only realized a few years ago that it was the electric shock going through the ground that did it. The horse bolted, luckily it was a big paddock otherwise he would have gone through fences I'm sure.
Since that day I have the greatest respect for electrical storms.

I should put this post in the Near Death Experiences thread as well. lolol

[ballaratdragons]

:eyepop: :eyepop: :eyepop: :eyepop: :eyepop: within 5 feet!!!!

About 40 feet away is closest I had a strike!!! That was close enough!!!

[Astroman]

Mine was 3m, inside a car at the time and a power pole next to us got hit, showered the car in debris and sparks. Been close to others also but comes with the territory of being a storm chaser.

Here are some more tips for videoing Lightning. http://www.sastormchasers.com/hints/lgtvidtips.html

[southern 40]

thks for the link jjj will check it out ,wow you are very lucky not to have been badly injured or worse ,Andrew thks for the link and info might explain why he did not get frizzy hair :lol:

[jjjnettie]

I was wearing rubber riding boots at the time which would have insulated me quite well.
But I was badly shaken. Nearly 30yrs later and I'm still very wary ( scared ) when there's lightning about.

[Karls48]

Rubber boots will not provide any protection at all at potential difference of serval million Volts. You were lucky, lightning just missed you.

[Terry B]

We had arcing inside our house last Autumn just before a big strike to a tree about 50m away. It arced off the range hood onto the kitchen bench.
Flashes inside the house are pretty scary.