Perth Storm 4th Dec 2011

[MrB]

Hi guys,
Took my "new" camera out for it's first serious shots last night.
First shot.. nothing, second shot... BAM!

Reasonably happy with the result, tho a longer exposure to drag some more cloud detail out of the noise would have been nice.... but despite looking all day, I could not find my remote trigger so was limited to the camera's built in 30s timer. Bah.

Anyway, hope you like it :)


Slightly higher res one (noise and all) (http://www.members.westnet.com.au/foo2/SWilliams_04Dec11_1080p.jpg)

[OICURMT]

I'm impressed... great shot

[bartman]

Big time envy there Simon!
Awesome shot!!!!!
Where did you take it?
Near Rocky/ Garden Island?
Well Done
Bartman

[leinad]

Niiice! What location is that?

[mishku]

sensational!!

[Octane]

That, my friend, is an award winning shot. Slightly shallow depth of field, but, I don't think it detracts that much as the key point of the image is certainly the magic in the middle.

What camera did you buy?

H

[RobF]

Wowser - that's a stunner for sure!

[lacad01]

That is one outstanding shot! Well done :thumbsup:

[Kevnool]

Oh what a beautie.
It really hits ya.

Cheers Kev.

[MrB]

Thanks guys.
Yeah Bart you got it, it's Rocko, Shoalwater Beach. Seal Island on the right.

Hiya H, LTNS!
I have been watching ebay for some time hoping to pick up a 5D mkII or a 40D or something at the right price, then a 400D surfaced for $100... I pounced! Should keep me happy 'till I get my hands on a twin or single digit.

Shot stats: Old Tamron 35mm(prime) MF with adaptor @ f5.6
30s @ ISO 100

Still can't find my remote trigger and it looks like there's going to be more action tonight :(

[vanwonky]

"Ain't half bin' some clever bast**ds" - Ian Dury

[astro_south]

Pardon the pun ;) ... but a cracking shot Simon

[OICURMT]

A lot of lightning in the Western Suburbs tonight...

[MrB]

Yeah pretty active out there tonight, cells firing up all over the place.
Though I've had no joy, all the lightning in the most active cell near me is either in or behind a large rain curtain... pretty but not very photogenic.

Still... the night is young :)

[troypiggo]

Great capture!

[MrB]

Thanks Troy.

I've been told my photo was shown on Nine News tonight... aaaaaaand I missed it.

[bartman]

Thats awesome!
There's cells to the left of me , cells to the right, here i am stuck in the Midlands again...... heheheh:lol:
Bartman

[Derek Klepp]

Unreal. Thanks for sharing
Derek

[iceman]

Wow what a ripper.

[mswhin63]

Very nice, must have been tired - slept through all of it.

[spearo]

great shot!
made a note of the settings and will try these myself soon!
well done
frank

[Peter Ward]

Brilliant photograph.

Hummm... I wonder what the current was like for the fish below? :)

[MrB]

Thanks guys.

How freaky is this?
There was an almost identical photo in The West Australian newspaper the other day.
Looks like the young photographer was about 1km south of where I was.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/12248071/lightning-starts-fires-as-wild-storms-lash-state/

[Osirisra]

Wow, a shot to blow up and stick on the wall for sure.

That is freaky the guy got the same shot!

[Grahame]

Hi Simon,

what a cracker of a show we got that night, and looks you got a fine shot too - that is one for the wall :)

I was about 12km south of you and at about the same time swung my camera round on its tripod for the attached shot - we were definitely watching same cell but I cant pick if it was the same bolt you photographed though.

Grahame.

[Octane]

Oh, you guys.

These are seriously some of, if not, the best lightning pictures I've ever seen.

Excellent, excellent work.

I'm literally green. :)

H

[Grahame]

Heres another shot - same location (secret harbour) but facing south-west this time, only a few mins before this one i watched a small plane fly right through this cloud bank!

Grahame.

[MrB]

Grahame! Haven't seen you for ages, we should catch up sometime, maybe chase the next summer storm ;)

Thats a top shot, I reckon that could be the same strike you know, hard to tell but something just looks right about it.
Hard to believe that cell was about 50k out to sea, cloud base was insanely high that night.

Where did you find such a high vantage point in Secret Harbour?

I watched that cell too, was over Mandurah, I have the light trail of the plane in a few shots ;)

Edit: I notice that last shot show has a purple tinge... I thought I was seeing things on Sunday, then the following night I got a few shots that were purple too. Also read a few posts on the WAWeatherGroup forum about purple lightning... I don't feel so crazy now :)

[Octane]

And, the hits just keep on coming.

:eyepop:

H

[MrB]

Here's a couple from the following night, Mon 5th.
Not such a good night, storm were very distant, it was very windy and I was taking 2, 3 and 4 min exposures holding my finger on the button. Still can't find my remote.
So the pics aren't that flash unfortunately.

Purple Rain and next is a scene Grahame should be familiar with ;)

[Grahame]

NICE!!! :P

yep I know that island well in second photo .... wanna get the (navy) boats and lightning in the background some day. oh i have spare remote release cable if you wanna use it till u find yours too - let me know :)

[suma126]

great images the strom went around us down here in busselton but this is what it looked like from busselton around 6pm

[iceman]

Continued awesome shots!

[bmitchell82]

Thats a spanker simon! :) I love lightning shots. I just wish i had a camera with a lightning trigger when i head up to darwin in a few weeks.!!!!! Known for the shear amount of lightning strikes and a place called..... IRON STONE LAGOON... Water + high ferros content stone :D get ya friskies on!

[h0ughy]

wow there are some cracker shots here

[colinmlegg]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm new to the board and just noticed these fantastic shots from Dec 4th.

As it happens, I was also out that night a bit further north than Simon and Grahame at Coogee beach overlooking Garden Island. I was timelapsing the sunset and the camera was pointing west, so I didn't get a pic of Simon's mega strike (do remember seeing it by eye, though), but did manage to catch some activity from a cell to the north. For the record, here's one of the strikes.

[Octane]

Brilliant, Colin.

I can see that hanging on the wall.

H

[mswhin63]

Hi Colin, really nice. What camera are you using to give the panoramic view?

[Octane]

Cropping. :P

H

[PCH]

That's a great shot Grahame. I notice the lightning doesn't seem to touch earth anywhere. How can this be? Any ideas folks? :thumbsup:

[andyc]

Not all lightning is cloud-to-ground. Different clouds, or different parts of the same cloud, can have differing electic charges and the lightning discharges between them.
More info from Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning#Cloud-to-cloud_lightning

Some amazing shots on this thread! :thumbsup: Something to aspire towards...