The air was heavy and I saw a flash beyond the horizon....and waited….

I was going to bed last night and saw a flash on the horizon and thought mmmm this might be something. Turned out to be the most dramatic electric storm here in the Scottish Borders I have ever seen in the 19 years I've lived here. With lightning bolts striking every hilltop in the entire valley area every 10-15 seconds at its height. It started at around 11:30pm and carried on until after well after 1:00am.

Triple StrikeElectrical storm over Traquair and Innerleithen on morning of 2nd July 2015   Strike above TraquairElectrical storm over Traquair and Innerleithen on morning of 2nd July 2015

So how do you capture lightning?

It's not so difficult, here's what I did on my Canon 5D SLR and 24-70mm lens

1. Select focal length to wider end of scale
2. Switch lens 'Auto Focus' OFF 
3. Turn focus ring until the 'L' before Infinity symbol is displayed in the lens window
4. Set a decent ISO - I used 1000
5. Set aperture f8-f11(for moderate sharpeness in case of focus imprecision
6. Set exposure time (TV) to 30 seconds
7. Shoot 2 stops under (may have to adjust or fine tune ISO/f combination
8. Select 'Mirror Lock-Up' from internal custom functions
9. Set Timer, or you can use a cable realise
10. Mount camera securely on a tripod
11. Aim in the direction of the most activity
12. Make an exposure and check if any hits - adjust if required
13. Repeat....repeat....repeat....until you're bored or its pouring down with rain (cameras don't like that!)

Infinity ShootingShooting at Infinty setting on a canon 24-70mm lens