Lake Storms

[CanisLupusArctos]

Just thought I would share some views of the intense lightning that occurred over the lake on Saturday evening. These are from the first storm that crossed the lake from Center Harbor to Wolfeborough between 6 and 7 p.m.

One of these views shows the MOUNT sailing southeastward from just north of Bear Island under an electrified sky.

[AC2717]

thank you for the photos those are beautiful.
We watch from our beach on Paugus bay, well my wife did as I was out at the mooring racing to put the canvas on the boat, as the lighting was coming down the channel, then I had to jump in and swim back, left my raft at the beach because when we went out it was beautiful. I was scared about the lightening and the water when I had to swim back, Fastest I ever canvas'ed the boat I can tell you that much!

[Weirs guy]

Amazing photos CanisLupusArctos, thanks. We watched the storm come in at a friends house on a hill north of Wolfeboro (yep, I have no idea where we were...) and it looked like a good storm to watch from the lake.

[rander7823]

CLA,

Was this time lapse, camera the senses light,frames from a video feed or are you just quick on the shutter?

Just curious how you got such great pictures

[colt17]

The strom just missed us in Laconia lots of wind and crazy lightning twards Moultonboro but no hail. Was getting very nervous with the wind but what a light show all night long. We sat on the deck and watched for most of the night.

[Lin]

Always spectacular photos CanisLupusArctos. Amazing shots, thanks for sharing.

[codeman671]

We had a front row seat looking across at Bear near Camp Lawrence. the lightning looked as if it was hitting the island, but probably was just on the other side. We saw probably 15 bolts hit in what looked like the same area in a matter of 10 minutes.

[Mee-n-Mac]

I sounded like we were going to get pounded in Alton and the lightning was intense just over the hills (I wonder how Mcdude made out ?) but the rain lasted only a few minutes. Looking at the Weather Station radar map it loked like the storms split just over the lake and went north and south. I got the camera out and tried to catch some of the lightning but had no luck. Great shots CLA, mebbe that's what I should try next time ... a webcam.

[ApS]

Just before sunset, all of Wolfeboro lost electric power. The closing darkness and approaching intensity had me turn my attention to the lake. Some distance away, I noticed a solitary loon riding the steep waves that announced the approaching thunderstorm. His behavior was noteworthy.

Unusual for a loon, he stretched up his head very high. As each wave approached—he'd part it—just like a boat laboring through heavy seas. But he used a little extra kick, as though he enjoyed doing it.

Twice he dove under the big waves, but only for a few seconds. He promptly returned to the surface—neck again outstretched. There was a great deal of rolling thunder and flashes of cloud-to-cloud lightning approaching—and he was looking directly into it all.

Twice he used the "threat" pose, but there was none of the "wailing call" that often follows humanity's loud booming noises and the private fireworks of weekends.

I lost sight of the loon when the rain started pelting the windows. The lightning and thunder moved in finally—and in fierce earnest.

Everything seemed "right" for this loon, just as though I'd witnessed a scene of his ancient predecessor from a million years ago.

[mcdude]

(I wonder how Mcdude made out ?)
It was awesome up here! We have a little overhang outside the sliders and we pulled out chairs and watched. It didn't rain for too long but the lightning was incredible and was followed by 30-45 mins of intense heat lightning. Better than fireworks!

[CanisLupusArctos]

CLA,

Was this time lapse, camera the senses light,frames from a video feed or are you just quick on the shutter?

Just curious how you got such great pictures

This storm amazed me. Normally I shoot lightning with the camera on a tripod and leave the shutter open in hopes of catching some lightning. This time I noticed most of the lightning bolts were hanging in the air for 2-3 seconds each, with each strike pulsing a number of times. That was longer than my reaction time + my shutter speed combined, so I decided to try it. I just aimed the camera at the lake as for any other snapshot, then snapped the picture as soon as I saw it.

Lightning has to be really intense for this to be possible, so these photos are a commentary on how much energy those storms had.

The photo of the MOUNT was done on a tripod with a 4-second exposure. I did about 25 frames of that same shot (each with the ship a little further down the lake,) but that was the only one with lightning.

These were all from my regular camera and not the web cam - though the web cam did catch one lightning bolt over Bear Island it wasn't a very good pic because the sky got too dark for the Netcam - and it wasn't even sunset yet.

Did anyone else see that incredible sunset we had after those storms?

[Justenuff]

We were in Senters in Center Harbor for a quick pickup and when we came out, it looked like nighttime. We managed to get to the Bad Moose Cafe, and sit on the deck watching the storm and enjoying the cool breeze after an extremely hot day.

[Redwing]

The sunset was, indeed, truly awesome after the storm(s) on Saturday night; a surreal and spectacular display of nature, which we watched from our cottage - along with guests - who thanked us for the "better than fireworks" show, and the beautiful sunset. Amazing photos, CanisLupusArctos... many thanks for sharing.

[Dave R]

We slept aboard our boat in Maine over the weekend. The lightning was intense there too. Awesome photos!

[Weirs guy]

Looking at the Weather Station radar map it loked like the storms split just over the lake and went north and south.

I've noticed that on most of the big storms this summer, the weather.com new interactive radar extravaganza webpage shows them splitting up. Must be the lake?

[djwoodward]

Taken the same night over Newfound Lake in Bristol @ about 9:15
1528

[Lin]

wow, more awesome shots of the lightning. Just amazing to see the power in all these shots.

[CanisLupusArctos]

DJWoodward, awesome shot! Do you mind sharing the settings you used for it? (F-stop, exposure time, etc.) Was that digital or film?

[djwoodward]

DJWoodward, awesome shot! Do you mind sharing the settings you used for it? (F-stop, exposure time, etc.) Was that digital or film?

Sure thing...
It’s a digital shot taken with a Canon Rebel XTi and a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8.

ISO: 400
Focal Length: 28mm
Apeture: f11
Shutter Speed: 7 sec *
*Actually used Bulb to hold the shutter open with a release then closed after the nearly simultaneous bolts.

Here are a couple more that I shot over Newfound in June. They were taken with similar settings...
This is my favorite so far
1531
This one is a fairly tight crop of a larger shot
1532

As you know this photographing lightning thing is pretty addicting :-)

[jeffk]

Magnificent, almost surreal.

Addicting is OK as long as they don't become shocking. :D

[Paugus Bay Resident]

Spectactular! Looks like you'll have a chance to get a few more shots tonight :laugh:

[Resident 2B]

djwoodward,

Absolutely outstanding!!

Thanks for sharing them.

Keep up the great work,

R2B

[CanisLupusArctos]

Wow, DJWoodward - GREAT stuff. At first I was amazed to see these were digital, since digital likes to pixelate time exposures at night, but then you say your exposure time was only 7 seconds - that must've been some frequent lightning.

From stormchaser to stormchaser: What sort of safety precautions were you taking (if any :D ) and was the storm approaching or departing when you took the shots? How far away?

I ask because I've found that the best lightning is often visible when the storm is approaching, and I used to have less trouble shooting it when I was young and invincible. Now that whole "hair standing on end" possibility bugs me a little bit more every year.... :eek:

[Weirs guy]

Now that whole "hair standing on end" possibility bugs me a little bit more every year.... :eek:

Sissy. :D Me and the boy were in for a swim last night when the storm was coming in, and I had the exact same feeling but forced myself to stay in the water a little longer (yes, because I'm a little slow). Big whitecaps on Weirs bay. Anyone get any shots?

[Mee-n-Mac]

Those are some great pictures. I like the small amount of motion blur on the trees and clouds, it adds that etheral look to them.

[djwoodward]

At first I was amazed to see these were digital, since digital likes to pixelate time exposures at night

Digital cameras do often have problems with long exposures. The pixelation you refer to is generally referred to as “noise”. The noise can be intensified from the heat generated by the sensor during long exposures. It’s even worse at high ISO settings. I have a few things going in my favor to keep the noise low. 1 - Canon is touted to be one of the best cameras when it comes to low noise although Nikon has may have caught them in their most recent offerings. 2 - I usually shoot at ISO 100. The fact that the first shot above is at 400 is unusual for me. 3 - I have a piece of software called “Neat Image” that does a great job of noise reduction in post processing. Another popular one is called “Noise Ninja”

[djwoodward]

From stormchaser to stormchaser: What sort of safety precautions were you taking (if any :D )

I like to believe I have a healthy respect for the power of these storms. However, as you know there's really no safe way to chase lightning. The general consensus is that there’s NO safe place outside in a thunderstorm. Most lightning safety groups say if you hear thunder or see lightning you need to get inside a substantial building or a hard top automobile. Even the old 30-second rule (between flash and thunder) isn't supported any more.

I've thought of making something to mount my camera inside the car but for now I try to be "reasonable" in my quest. Most of the shots I've taken have been as the storm approach although I've has some luck after storms pass as well. I more-or-less follow the old 30-second rule to not let any strike get closer than 6 miles (in theory). But I've already seen that this isn't fool proof. I had one strike that was only ~2 miles away from me in June and unfortunately it wasn’t even in the camera’s field of view. For what-it’s-worth I’m never more than a few steps away from shelter (usually my car) but that won’t help if a stray bolt sneaks-up on me.

The lightning in the shots I posted here is about 6 to 10 miles away and taken as the storm approached. Keep in mind that the last one is a cropped-shot so it looks much closer. The lightning in this one was actually the farthest away of any of these shots. I’ll post the original if I can find it. I left almost immediately after each of these shots for safety and to get my camera undercover before the rain started.

I'm not quite foolish enough to stay out through an entire storm. I use a quick hit-and-run approach before or after but I make no claims that it's a safe thing to do.

I hope this wasn't too long of a ramble...

[djwoodward]

Here's the original of the cropped shot above.
1545

BTW...
Last night I saw the most brilliant and sustained IC (inter cloud) lightning that I've ever seen. I was travelling east toward home from Lebanon/Hanover and could never quite catch-up to the storm enough to set up the camera. It would have been an awesome night to shoot. Did you get any Canis?

[Mee-n-Mac]

Talk about inter-cloud lightning ...

Just as the storms had passed last weekend I went out with a buddy to see "what's up". The rain had ceased but there was still some sporadic lightning. I had my dSLR on my "hip" but since you can't catch these things by pointing and shooting I had given up (tripod back in the cabin). As I looked out towards Sandy Pt my buddy turned around and said something which I lost, because just at that moment there was a cloud-cloud discharge that was multipronged like I had never seen before. All I could do was point and say "ugh". Had I persevered in my earlier attempts that day I might have caught it.




ugh




ps : Some of the Panasonic (?) digicams had a neat feature that would be handy in these situations. You hit the shutter and they kept grabbing shots until you let up, storing only the last five or so frames. So you only had to point and press and them let up after you had seen the bolt. Great for capturing a scene you expected to happen but didn't know when it was to happen. I wonder if they still have that feature ....