150 Million Light Bulbs

What do 730 days and 150 million lightbulbs have in common???

730 days is exactly 2 years. Which is exactly how long, I have actively tried to photograph lightning to no avail. Lightning has the energy in a single bolt to power 150 million lightbulbs. I mean, I have caught shots of lightning before, but it was always followed by the premise of chance. What I was looking for was something better than this. Before the Arcs and Zeus' spear, I'll give a little backstory.

It started in the year 2011. I had just purchased my Canon 60D. Not a real pro photog camera, but for someone who has had little experience in terms of photography, this was a huge milestone for me. I had my camera for a little less than a month before I installed Magic Lantern. This is like a hack that allows you to use extra features in your camera. One of the features was motion detect. You can either do it by difference in exposure or sound. Now I had seen some posts by other photographers who used it for lightning photography, and alas the seed was planted.

It was an idea that stuck with me for a few months. Finally it came, a pretty hefty lightning storm. Even then I was still learning how to shoot in manual, so I knew less then on how to properly expose for 2 completely different exposures. See when shooting lightning at night you have to take into account how bright the bolts will be. Too short and the picture is all black. Too long and you will have an overexposed sky. Needless to say my first few attempts were shoddy at best. 

Even funnier still was that, on occasion, I would see friends using their iphones to post photos of thunderstorms and it would have lightning streaking across the sky. Needless to say as a photographer this is a little heartwrenching. Still like an inmate, at Alcatraz patiently I bided my time. 

Fast forward 2 years.

It was the first night of Sept 2013. There was a storm brewing, quickly I grabbed my camera and ran outside. I took a few test shots and set my camera up with motion detect. I wasn't even fully finished setting up when a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. I looked down and my camera had taken a shot. I scrolled through my menu to get to the photo, and Eureka I had caught the streak of lightning in perfect exposure!!!! About 45 min and a couple more shots later I retired back to the house. In total I got 2 solid photos of lightning. I love both photos for different reasons. I never understood how photographers could spend months and years to get "That Shot" until now....

In this photo, I love how the bolt shows motion moving to the left. Ending with electrical fingers reaching out as far as it can.

This shot, I love how the lightning gives the "Raining Hell" feeling to the viewer.

And now for some interesting Lightning Facts:

• Each second there are 50 to 100 Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Strikes to the Earth world-wide.

• Most lightning strikes average 2 to 3 miles long and carry a current of 10000 Amps at 100 million Volts.
• The temperature of a typical lightning bolt is hotter than the surface of the Sun!

• Lightning Strikes create powerful radio waves in the frequency range of 3 KHz (audio, VLF) through 10 MHz (shortwave radio). The VLF (3000 Hz to 30000 Hz) "lightning signatures" can travel around the world, allowing monitoring of world-wide lightning. The shortwave "lightning signatures can travel half-way around the Earth (the night-time side of the Earth). The best region to listen for distant shortwave lightning signatures is from 2 MHz through 7 MHz. After 3 AM local time you can listen to 3 MHz and hear the beautiful dispersion-ringing of the static as it bounces back-and-forth between the earth and ionosphere. It can at times sound like hundreds of tiny bells ringing at once!
• An average instance of lightning lasts about a quarter of a second and consists of 3-4 strikes.
• You can hear thunder from about 12 miles from the starting point.
• Lightning bolts travel at speeds of up to 60,000 miles per second.
• The average length of a single lightning bolt is 2-3 miles.
• A single lightning bolt travels through twisted paths in the air that can be as wide as one of your fingers or between six and ten miles.
• The temperature of a typical lightning bolt can reach 50,000 F degrees – that is 5 times greater than the temperature of the surface of the Sun.
• Glass forms when lightning strikes into sandy soil. After a storm you can find strips of glass in the sand.
• If you have wet clothes on, lightning will do you less harm.
• In March of 1991 a single six-hour storm stretching over Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri caused more than 15,000 lightning strikes. During the storm the skies were ablaze with almost constant lightning.
• Lightning hits the Empire State Building (NY, USA) about 23 times a year.
• Lightning strikes also occur on Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.
• The Aztecs believed that lightning accompanied the dead, splitting the earth and making its way into its depths.
• In the Middle Ages it was believed that church bells expelled evil spirits. Thunder and lightning were regarded as diabolical, so during a thunderstorm monks tried to constantly ring the bells. As a result the victims of lightning very often were bell-ringers.
• The irrational fear of lightning is known as keraunophobia. The fear of thunder is termed brontophobia.
• There are from 100 to 1000 instances of ball lightning at the same time on Earth, but the chance you’ll see at least one in your lifetime is just 0.01%.
• On average, about 200 people are killed by lightning in the United States every year.
• The state of Florida holds the title of the “Deadliest State.” There are twice as many lightning casualties as in any other state. 10% of all people struck by lightning were in Florida at the time.
• The chance to be killed by lightning is 1 in 2,000.000. You have the same chance dying from falling out of bed.
• Never talk on the phone while a storm is breaking outside. Not only do cell phones “attract” lightning, but about 1% of all lightning deaths in the U.S. are a result of people talking inside the home on a corded phone during a thunderstorm.
• About 71% of all people struck by lightning survive. The fatal cases are usually the result of cardiac arrest. However, those who survive often suffer from serious health and psychological problems like loss of memory or sensitivity, insomnia, impaired hearing, or constant pain.