Photographing the storm
Yesterday I was able to carry out one of the challenges that were pending photo: photograph a storm. Storms can be very attractive to the camera, but meet the challenges of several different types of photography, but add their own.
The most obvious is the bleak time, if it is raining, cold, and air, are not eager to go out with the camera anywhere. But rarely have the window views interesting enough to justify the picture, as the storm itself, unattractive, if not accompanied with a landscape, whether natural or urban. That will require a shift and the search for a complete scene on the ground, the sight of heaven.
If we are shooting rays will do much better at night than by day, but as in any night snapshot, the result is more interesting in the blue hour, when it is dark.
So we need to take a picture of landscape, and night snapshot, as the storm we try to send home with your air and rain. In addition, we take great care to keep well away from the storm. A tripod extended metal is not the most advisable to have at hand when struck by lightning ...
As said earlier, yesterday I could gather all the necessary conditions and make my first photos of lightning. At about six o'clock in the afternoon, watching the clouds were forming over my house, I decided it was the perfect time to take some photos for my project of the Castles of Spain , so I took the whole team and went to the two is in Chinchón: The Castle of the Counts and the Castle of Casasola. First I went to the Counts, who already knew and had in mind some compositions I wanted. Arriving to much air and it was clear as it rained a few kilometers away. After taking a few pictures I found myself in a curious situation: where I was the air was becoming stronger, but it was not raining, instead looked to where to look, saw that the storm was raging nearby towns strongly, showing an overview spectacular tumbling water curtains and the sun trying to get through.
The castle passed into the background and began to focus on photographing the storm, always with an eye on your camera and a monitor its evolution. The circle was narrowing, thunder and increasingly approached for more air, so it was time to pick up the dishes before you start to get wet. Just in time, as I got in the car began to fall waterspout.
The next objective was the Castillo de Casasola, on a nearby farm. I went on hoping to outrun the storm, and I was lucky to be so. However, it is a private estate I never get close to him, and just as light was not able to find other sites where you can spot. Instead I had before me a landscape quite acceptable, with the storm to the west and the sun setting behind her. It seems it was my lucky day, so I returned to focus on the clouds, dusk, and the waterspout was seen falling in the distance.
I had the time and the landscape, and the rays soon make an appearance, so that the next goal was to photograph lightning. Despite the little light he had placed the filter polarizer to gain saturation in the colors of sunset, and also for longer exposure times. My intention was to make presentations more than half a minute to try to capture several rays on each.
But I soon discovered it was not a good technique. The exposure times were around a minute, but a ray takes less than a second, so that by continuing to expose the image 59 seconds more, the beam is smoothed to almost nothing. Moreover, the storm was not as strong, and only capture a tiny ray got four or five shots (usually fall when I was watching the previous or changing the frame ...).
So I decided to change strategy and try to do more photos with less time. The first was to remove the polarizer and the exposure time down to 30 seconds. Ready to make the first test, open the shutter and just then came what was waiting for: a huge bolt of lightning struck in front of the goal. I knew I had the photo, but had to wait until after the exhibition or the rest of the landscape would black.
Then the air again began to push and it started raining slightly, so that gave me a second chance. I picked up everything and left. When I was coming to the road the previous waterspout chirimiri I began to look. The unevenness of the road were flooded rapidly and the wipers did not give crude.
In the end, a little preparation, a little luck and a lot of prudence to retire early, resulted in my first approach to a storm. For the next I will avoid some past mistakes and try to improve outcome.
Great photos!
Thanks Gaizka.
When I came and I caught the second waterspout came to be scared. He was convinced they were going to start falling hail like golf balls, and not a good idea to be driving in those conditions ... and I was right: http://www.abc.es/agencias/noticia.asp?noticia=77880
Good pictures and good article. I sign up a storm on my list to do