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Author: Christopher_Boswell, Contributing Editor
The LightningHunter |
| There I was, huddled beneath a metal awning next to a metal picnic table, on a warm southwestern night. The hair on the back of my neck surely stuck straight out from the charge in the air. Yet, there was too much adrenaline flowing for me to care. So, taunting the gods, I clasped my hand around a metal cable release screwed to an old Minolta SRT-101 sitting atop a big daddy Bogen tripod.
This was my first trip into Monument Valley. When the storm approached, I had been whistling a tune while preparing to make camp. Lightning was no stranger to me and I flashed back to my boyhood in Amarillo. I wondered if this storm would be like those I remembered, packing the usual tornadoes and hail like monsters visiting the plateau in Texas where I grew up. Maybe that is why fear never came over me; the storm was always such a welcome change. A quick cleansing of the land leaving the air fresh and clean, plus whitewater torrents to frolic in as they moved through the drainage channels. 
Flashes of light began to appear over a wonderful pair of tall flat buttes. The realization that to camp here was not prudent came to bear as I began to check my film and composition. Not sure of what to do, I had just enough experience to know that long exposures would be the best. So I began with 15-second increments at f/8. Just as I got the first exposure started, a wonderful big bright bolt jumped from the sky and danced across both buttes. It stayed in my frame and never left my field of view. I let out a big "whoopee!," feeling blessed and thanking the gods, and from that moment on I have been hooked. But this story does not end there. My bliss-filled sense of accomplishment was soon gone as the storm quickly came right at me sideways. It packed piercing rain rockets and howling wind. My "come strike me now" metal awning was no longer shelter from the storm. I retreated to the back seat of my Dodge Shadow. Have you ever tried to make saleable photographs from the back seat of a compact car? Neither had I, and now the storm was directly overhead, pelting the car with hail and bolts of lightning seemingly striking in my lap. Pumped from my first shot I salivated for another and now I pointed the camera in the opposite direction--east as the storm moved over me. It was pitch black and that made composing nearly impossible. Each errant flash of light was a gift providing a millisecond of light to adjust my shot. My mind's eye had a vision of the Mittens, left and right, centered, awash in purple hues and receiving bolts from heaven in all the right places. I tried to keep still for the now 30-second exposures I was doing, knowing each breath could move the Dodge enough to blur the shot. Then, lucky as a pro quarterback in a game-winning zone, came the second lightning shot of my career. Not as perfect as the first, but a bolt none the less, right in the middle of the Mittens made famous by old John Wayne movies. I thought I had gotten it, but was not really sure, and as quickly as it came, the storm was gone. I would have to wait six weeks to return home and have my Kodachrome 64 and Ectachrome 50 processed. The remainder of that first six-week photographic outing was spent all over the glorious southwestern part of our beautiful country. Honored I was to photograph old Indian dwellings and rock formations across Colorado and Utah, cacti and their flowers all across Arizona, beautiful cities, deserts, mountains, and beaches all over California, and the White Sands of New Mexico. Yet somehow, nothing matched up to the memory and the thrill of that lightning hunt and capture. It would be five more years before I would have another opportunity. 
Tips on capturing lightning on film: Your camera must be capable of extended exposures for nighttime lightning hunting, either through Program mode or a bulb setting. Data backs are good for this and can be set at intervals for hands-free operation. A good sturdy tripod is a must and I like to use one with wide rubber feet. If my setup gets struck, the charge will have a better probability of heading into the ground rather than jumping to me and welding my watch to my wrist. Film will depend on your planned use, but as a rule I never shoot anything with a speed of over 100 ISO. That gives me good, crisp enlargements without the grain that can be caused by reciprocity failure at long exposures. Use two cameras. I recently caught a wonderful shot on three different cameras. It is easy to administer three setups when using long exposures as you can simply start one, and by the time you get back from the others, number one is ready to advance and start again. Study your storm. Lightning is much like the charge you get walking across the carpet. Remember when you touched someone and accidentally shocked them? Yet, when you tried again--nothing. You had to drag your feet across the carpet again to set up a new charge. Lightning is much the same, building up the charge and then depositing it on the landscape. If your storm is moving north at 15 miles per hour and is discharging every 30 seconds, it is moving about .12 miles between strikes. It is easy to chart your strikes using some simple math equations. Count in your head or use a stopwatch, and chart the movement across the horizon in inches. Plot your next strike and be ready to capture it on film. Some tips on safety and locating lightning: No place outside is safe from lightning during a thunderstorm. The best way to avoid lightning is not putting yourself, your family, or friends in danger in the first place. Weather information is all around you; scan the skies 360 degrees around you. Subscribe to weather and lightning notification services. Pay attention to TV, radio, and online weather forecasts, or listen to Noah Weather Radio. Experts agree the 30/30 rule is one of the best ways to avoid danger of lightning striking you. Simply follow these steps: Designate someone from your group to be the storm watcher. Use the 30/30 rule. When you see lightning, count the seconds until you hear thunder. If the time is less than 30 seconds, quickly go inside a substantial building. If such a building is not available, a metal-topped vehicle is the next best choice. Wait a least 30 minutes after seeing the last lightning or hearing the last thunder before going back outside. Get off the water, out of open spaces, and away from trees. The two most deadly places you can be are in open spaces or under trees. Also avoid things which conduct electricity such as water, utility lines, and metal fences. If you are still outdoors and lightning has struck close to you, crouch down into a ball, heels up and resting your weight on the soles of your feet. Your goal is to be the smallest possible target having the least contact with the ground. Do not seek shelter under tall isolated trees or insubstantial structures. It is better to be wet from the rain than dead or disabled by lightning. If someone is struck, call 911 or the emergency services in your area. Check for a pulse. If the victim’s heart has stopped or the person has stopped breathing, immediately administer CPR. If in the home, protect your electronics and valuables by unplugging them during the storm. They can be zapped by direct or indirect hits and power surges during the storm. Several people die every year from lightning strikes while talking on the phone inside their homes. Be smart; unplug your TV, computer and stereo system before going to work in the morning. Do the same overnight while you are in bed, including phone and cable connections. Follow these guidelines and maybe you won’t be one of the approximately 100 people who are killed each year by lightning in the United States alone. Experts estimate that ten to twenty times that number are injured each year by lightning, totaling several thousand people or about 6 per day. At any given time, about 2,000 thunderstorms are occurring around the world. These storms provide spectacular lightning that strikes the Earth up to 100 times every second. We know that 20 million lightning strikes occur inside the borders of the United States every year. Wow, I just noticed a nice anvil has formed to the west out my office window. Time to load up the van and get me some. Hope to see you out there! Keep shooting! Copyright 2005 Christopher Boswell www.chrisboswell.com |
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| B i o g r a p h y | |
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An Artist working with Photography, Pencil, Word, and Acrylics. |
| Christopher Boswell is a photographer, artist, and writer residing in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, visit him at www.chrisboswell.com. | |
| E-Mail: artist@realwindow.com Web Site: http://stores.ebay.com/Real-Window-Graphics_W0QQsspagenameZL2QQtZkm | |
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