How to Photograph Lightning - Tutorial & Pro Tips

TRIPOD
Use a tripod so that you can take long exposures without motion blur. The heavier the tripod, the better. Instead of pushing the shutter button on your camera body, use a cable release. That way you won’t risk moving the camera with your big clumsy finger.

FOCUS TIP
Set your camera on manual focus and focus on infinity. CAREFUL! Many camera lenses focus beyond infinity so I always have to nudge my focus back a hair. Focus on a distant light to make sure you’re in perfect focus.

BEST CAMERA SETTINGS

ISO
Start with your ISO set at 100.

APERTURE / F-stop
Start off in the middle around F8.
If lightning is striking far away, and shows up too dim, open your f-stop more to f5.6 - f2 until all the branches are nice and bright. If you have too much light, close your f-stop to f11 - f22. If your f-stop is open all the way and the lighting branches still are not showing up well, then bump up your ISO to 200, 300, 400 etc.

EXPOSURE
When it’s finally dark enough, start taking long exposures… 1 second - 10 seconds or more depending on how much ambient light there is. My favorite time to shoot lightning is at sunset. Because of all the existing light, you can only leave your shutter open a second or two. Once it’s pitch black, you can leave your shutter open for 10, 20, 30 seconds or more.

BEST CAMERAS FOR LIGHTNING PHOTOGRAPHY
The best cameras for lightning photography are the ones with manual settings options. Most digital DSLR cameras or mirrorless cameras have these options. Nikon, Cannon, Sony, Fuji, etc. all work great.

HOW TO TAKE PICTURES OF LIGHTNING WITH A PHONE
The best way to take photos of lightning with a phone camera is to just shoot video and then take a screen grab of a good frame. You might get lucky trying to take a photo with burst mode or by simply taking a normal photo, but the cards are stacked against you.

ROLLING SHUTTER vs GLOBAL SHUTTER
Most video cameras nowadays are equipped with a rolling shutter. that means the frames you are capturing are recorded through a scanning process that rolls down the sensor. Though this process occurs really fast, lightning is much faster. The result is often annoying blocky rectangles called partial exposures.

Most negative lightning strikes I capture on video are ruined with partial exposures. Positive lightning channels and anvil crawler lightning tend to exist longer, thus are captured some-what better by rolling shutters. While shooting video of lightning with a rolling shutter, I usually set the shutter speed at 30, the frame rate at 30 and cross my fingers.

Another option is to invest in a camera with a global shutter. A global shutter scans a snapshot of the entire scene all at once. So, no partial exposures. The catch is you'll likely spend thousands of dollars at least on a good HD or 4K camera and the global shutter technology is not one for low light sensitivity.

Music:
"Won't Pray Adagio" by Southern Backtones
guitar score by Hank Schyma
"Ode to Joy" performed by Hank Schyma

*** FREE Pecos Hank 2018 calendar poster file ***

You can shrink it down and print it on your home printer, or have a shop print the full 24x16. You can also use it as your desktop background.

I’d love to know what country or state this poster is hanging up in so let me know in the comments.
Merry Christmas from Texas!

Download link:

[ry-guy_]

Your comedic relief is perfect in your videos. So informative but you always find a way to make me laugh or smile.

[zmznl]

I am 7 years too late for that free tornado calendar

[firelilly]

Found this video about a month ago as I was (unintentionally) sitting in a massive thunder storm trying to get a good shot, and failing. You explained everything wonderfully and I was able to get my first lightning photos so thank you!

[md]

I love thunderstorms since I'm a kid.

I bought a 2nd hand Sony Alpha A7s camera and 2 lenses!

The place where I'm living, you have thunderstorms twice a year if you're lucky. So I always checking the forecast and following the storms on the lighting maps.

Last night I went out and captured my first few 'blue cobwebs' in my life.
I only have a bicycle so I was riding with a huge backpack through the night around 1am to find a great spot.
I had a massive grin on my face on my way home and in my bed while I was falling asleep like 4 am even if I had to go to work at 6:30 am.

Thank you brother for sharing your pure and simple explanation in this video.

Some people says it's like fishing.... well it's way more exciting than that.

Wish you all the best!

[ColoredMud]

You are seriously the best YouTuber! ❤

[savilleinc]

Just found the calendar! My son (15) turned me on to your channel. Love the storms, love the snakes, love the humor. I'm going to get the calendar printed off for him. Thanks for all the mind-numbing boardum you have to go through to get the good stuff.

[another_german]

A free tornado calendar from my favorite storm chaser, Best, Christmas, Gift, EVER!

[jamesgruhn-ndfi]

My wife retired December 31st and I bought a Nikon Z50 for her. She has been wanting to do more photography now that she has the time. She’s watching this video is already taking notes. Thanks Hank👽

[rhodesphotoco]

"The greatest strikes happen in that short time between exposures." Whew, I thought Odin just liked screwing with me specifically, glad I'm not alone.

[SylvanianCoywolf]

Pecos Hank, I would just like to take a brief moment to thank you for the great content. I have been subscribed to your channel since I discovered it a few months ago while I researching a particular tornado. Your channel has since become one of my favorite subscriptions. It has been a mix of a few good laughs, tones of new knowledge learned, and amazing videos and photos of the indescribable beauty and awe that is mother nature's wraith and majesty.

[runswithbeer]

All the time I've spent doing photography, this is the best explanation I've seen for how to do a slow shutter shot. Great job!

[rlorion]

I get so sad when the videos end....could watch Pecos Hank all day.

[kwvm]

Came across your videos as far back as 2013. You are one of just a very select few I take inspiration from to get into landscape and storm photography. Just picked up a Nikon D3200 and beginning to learn. Not doing anything but learning and will eventually work via "trial and error."

[blythewarland]

you have a really natural and easy way of explaining every thing that a photo snob would make so complicated no one would understand, good stuff

[antonfalcophotography]

"As you get more experience, you'll see lightning tends to strike in the short time between two exposures"

All. The Time.

[bowechosqualler]

I've seen so many of your videos a million times, but somehow missed this one, and I'm glad it came up on my recommended today!!! I've been wanting to get into photographing lightning with my DSLR, but had no idea how to change my settings to capture it. Especially since I'm so new at photography! Thank you SO much for uploading this!!!

[myxe]

Hey Hank! Just a suggestion for the next tornado season, could you please also upload the whole chases (or most of the chase)? I am sure many, many people would dig watching a good long video full of Pecos Hank awesomeness!

[phanterleo]

Quarantined in the appropriate location - clicks trash bin! Dude, you’re hilarious while being an incredible teacher at the same time. I can’t believe I’ve only just found you. Thank you universe and thank you for your content 🙏

[JoeSteinerIII]

Dude... nailed it. Informative + hilarious 🔥 You're sincerity translates well to your production value. This was sick!

[christiangudall]

How is this guy not at 1million subs yet, love the videos man