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gary rouleau
07-19-2009, 12:42 PM
From a balcony in Albuquerque New Mexico.
I never tried this before but the storm was impressive so here's my best shot at it. The mountains are behind the clouds. The purple is just how it came out of the camera. All I did was sharpen it with photokit.
I'm not sure if it fits as a landscape. Suggestions/comments?

Canon 50D
Lens 28-135mm at 30mm
ISO 320 2sec at f/4.0
Elbows as a tripod.

Cheers
gary

Judd Patterson
07-19-2009, 05:39 PM
Gary, it's a great experiment! I love the deep purples and the detailed, branching lightning. I think it works, but I would also really love a stronger composition that somehow incorporated a foreground element...tree,cactus,etc. Your elbow tripod worked nicely!

Roman Kurywczak
07-19-2009, 09:27 PM
Hey Gary,
I'm impressed with the 2 sec elbow tripod.....although I don't want to recommend that!.......I'm a huge lightning fan and find this pleasing but like Judd.....am looking for a bit more. You may want to try this next time out....lower the ISO to 100...........since it was dark, a 30 second SS will just help improve the succes rate and probably not blow out the exposure and allow for multiple strikes. In the case of lightning.....longer is definitely better!

gary rouleau
07-19-2009, 09:35 PM
Judd and Roman Thanks. As I said this was a first. I was hoping to get the towers on the mountain top but they got socked in. So with your advice -I'll be back with the next storm.
Cheers
gary

Roman Kurywczak
07-19-2009, 09:41 PM
Hey Gary,
Remember this too.....you may be the tallest object with your tripod and camera.....so distance of storm is key (although not a guarantee)......be safe!

gary rouleau
07-19-2009, 09:56 PM
Roman I live at the base of the Sandia Mountains so I can shoot from my balcony. And be out of the rain as well.

Thanks for the heads up.
gary

Dan Brown
07-19-2009, 10:05 PM
Hey Gary, cool shot! I saw the lightning storms report on the news from your neck of the woods and wondered if one of you Albuquerque folks would be out shooting in it and here you are!!:D

Robert Amoruso
07-20-2009, 09:22 AM
I think this worked out well Gary - nice going getting a pano.

Dave Mills
07-20-2009, 04:50 PM
Gary...I like this image very much. The pano crop fits it nicely with a good diagonal flow. Even though the lightening is not strong on the upper half the lit clouds have an eerie look to them which is appealing...

Doug Brown
07-21-2009, 07:50 PM
Love the purple color of the lightning Gary! Wish I'd had my camera with me that night!