Lightning Strikes
It was a late July evening in 2011, and I was working at my computer when an intense lightning storm rolled over Chicago. What made this storm unusual was the complete absence of rain. Through my windows, I watched the sky flash over and over again—nonstop bursts of light like the sky itself couldn’t sit still. I grabbed my camera, tripod, and cable release and headed out the door.
Photographing lightning isn’t as tricky as people think—it’s actually pretty straightforward. The real challenge is being in the right place at the right time. When I used to teach high school photography, students would often ask, “How do you photograph lightning? I’m not fast enough.” They assumed it required lightning-fast reflexes to press the shutter at the perfect moment. But the truth is, if you’re relying on your timing, you’re already too late.
That night I drove to the lakefront, away from the tall buildings and ambient city light. I set up my tripod and aimed my lens out into the blackness of Lake Michigan. My aperture was set to f/22, and I switched my camera mode to bulb. (If you’ve never used bulb mode, it’s a holdover from the early days of photography, when pressing an air bulb would hold the shutter open as long as needed, closing it only when released.) Using a cable release, I could keep the shutter open indefinitely and close it whenever I chose.
With almost no ambient light, I could leave the shutter open and simply wait for lightning to strike. On that particular night, exposures ranged anywhere from 60 seconds to 200 seconds—sometimes capturing multiple lightning strikes within a single frame.
Here’s one of my shots:
f/22 at 60 seconds, ISO 100
The only other light in the frame came from the dim pier lights. Stopped down to f/22, there was little risk of overexposing them, even with a long exposure. Lightning, however, is so intense and bright that a single strike registers easily on the sensor.
In another frame, I kept the shutter open for nearly two minutes and caught eight different lightning strikes as they lit up the lake at various moments:
f/22 at 120 seconds, ISO 100
If you’re curious about photographing lightning yourself, here’s what you’ll need:
A tripod
A cable release
A camera with bulb mode
Set up your camera in position, switch to bulb mode, stop down your aperture to f/16 or f/22, and lower your ISO to 100. This combination reduces ambient light and lets you leave the shutter open while waiting for lightning—without worrying about overexposure.
After a handful of shots, the rain finally arrived. I packed up quickly, knowing I had captured something special. I’ve seen plenty of extraordinary lightning photos online—images taken by photographers who’ve mastered this art. But for my one and only attempt, I couldn’t have been happier. Reviewing and editing the photos later was just as much fun as making them.
