Camera Labs

hi, i'm new to the world of digital cameras, i have a passion to take good photos, i own a canon 60d with a 18mm to 55mm lens.i need some help on taking photos of lightning
thanks cheesy

Easiest way that I've found is the to set the camera to the following using the lens you've described (I'm assuming it's the kit lens)

f - 5.6 (or whatever the lowest setting is)
ISO - 100
Evaluative metering
Shutter Speed - usually 30 secs if at night
Good sturdy tripod
Most important bit of kit - a small black cloth (microfibre cleaning cloth is perfect, big enough to cover the front of your lens))

Set focus to infinity, switch to Manual Focus and make sure IS is switched off as well. Hit your shutter and wait for a strike. If it's a rather stormy night, this is where the cloth comes in - after capturing a couple of strikes, I'll carefully cover the lens to stop anymore light coming into it and wait until the shutter closes.

The above technique also works well for capturing fireworks where you don't want too many fireworks in the shot at one time.

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Canon 5D MKIII, Canon 400D, 70-200 f2.8 L, 17-40 f4 L, 50 f1.8

Great tip for the black cloth Chopper, I'll definitely give that a shot.

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Cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T2i, Canon S90
Lenses: Tamron: SP70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD, Canon: EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens, 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III, and EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Retired camera: Fujifilm Finepix s700

Great tip! I haven't shot fireworks or lightning but I'll definitely bear that in mind if I do.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

If you want to take impressive lightning photos then you should use a tripod and use remote shutter in order to take shots. You should set the shutter speed and aperture properly. Most importantly, you should frame the picture where most of the light occurs.

I'm no expert photographer but setting your shutter speed and aperture properly is true of any photo you take....

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

As I know you should have a lightning trigger for taking shots. I'm into lightning photography and i read a review on gizmag about that device called Nero Trigger. It can be very helpful for images you want to capture. You should check it out.

Triggers - sure you can buy one, but personally I'd just use the equipment that I have rather than buy something on the off chance of a meteorological phenomenon. Unless you're a lightning chaser... What's a few clicks when your average shutter has a estimated 100,000+ clicks lifespan?

Aperture and shutter speed - you can set what you like, but the shorter the shutter speed, the more effect the actual lightning strike may have on your exposure. So if you expose your scene before lightning strikes and have a 6 second shutter speed, then if you get a shot with a lightning bolt striking the light from the strike will over expose your shot far more than if you have a 30 second shutter speed and a solitary strike.

So tripod, full manual mode, ISO at base, setting an aperture and shutter speed to give you a slightly under exposed shot pre lightning with a long enough shutter speed to minimise your wasted shots in the burst will do the trick.

Then a remote release is good - camera on continual high shooting, lock down the remote release, and wait for your strikes.

Here's an 8 second exposure - my original location got me and my camera completely washed out by a hail storm so I had to find cover and could not get a sweeping view, instead focusing on what I presumed would be a good target for any approaching lightning (at 828m tall, it sticks out a bit)