In the Oregon Cascade mountains, near my home sits one of the most scenic lakes in the world, Sparks Lake. On this occasion I tracked a thunderstorm that happened to drift directly into the middle of my composition during a 5 minute exposure. The lightening (circular lightening bolt) struck right down the middle in the last 1 minute of the 5 minutes (I have two witnesses )! The rosy colors behind the mountain on the right (Broken Top) are due to a gigantic forest fire raging far in the distance behind.
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Klaus Priebe wrote:
Very nice shot Mark. Did you use the lightning trigger on this?
Thank you very much Klaus.
No. Actually I go to Sparks Lake so often sometimes I get a little bored from time to time. On this occasion it was after sunset (twilight) and almost always everyone packs it up and leaves at the exact time I start shooting . In fact, friend Alex Noriega tells me that he is often only composing his shot when everyone is going crazy shooting the blazing sunset (that he is often not interested in) and then when everyone actually leaves and they think there is nothing left to shoot, that is when he starts shooting his twilight stuff (I love his work). So, in that same vein I was doing some 5 and even up to 15 minute exposures just having fun simply experimenting in the dark. On this one (5 minutes) lightening just happened to strike right down the middle! I literally yelled out a hoop and holler pretty much knowing what I had just got. The lighting was not too powerfully bright so I felt I had a good chance it was not over exposed. I yelled to friend Jeff Chen, "dude I think I got it!" Once the exposure finished, boom, it was right there on the LCD. So, some luck, but also a lot of intuition and downright experimentation too. That is really my favorite thing to do. Experiment. I also love it when everyone thinks the show is over and goes home. This year, this has happened to me more times than I can count. Often everyone leaves because it is getting too dark. They often think I don't know what I am doing. By the time they get back to camp, or maybe even home I am starting to get the shots, and in solitude. BTW, I did get that lightening trigger you recommended. I have yet to have the opportunity to use it. But thank you for the recommendation! I am sure it is going to come in handy over the next year.
)! The rosy colors behind the mountain on the right (Broken Top) are due to a gigantic forest fire raging far in the distance behind.