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dirkwilliams — Lightning 2
Published: 2006-08-22 23:46:54 +0000 UTC; Views: 3862; Favourites: 119; Downloads: 68
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Another lightning strike, same shoot, I like the lighting in the clouds better on this one, although I had the ISO on 1600 for this shot, so its unbearably grainy.Related content
Comments: 44
will be featured later tonight [i'm tired
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damn that ISO - haha. i know where you're coming from.
screwed with it, screwed without it.
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Haha, I know right! Oh well, what do you do... Thanks for the comment!!
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Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to you, but thank you so much for featuring me! I really appreciate it
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...but still pretty cool i thought.. to look at and "feel " it anyways yeah..
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Awsome photo, how did you manage to get such a nice shot?
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Lots of patience mostly lol
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have you thought about cropping this one too? maybe making it narrower?
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I definitely could, but like I said on the other one, I like having a standard ratio... I might look into it though.
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just a thought, but i think cropping a little less than a quarter off the right side would look cool. your right about the light in the clouds.
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Hi Dirk,
This picture is very interesting. The imaginery power of lightning is boosted by the clouds in the middle of it and grain doesn't matter. It creates somewhat "analogue film" effect. Who said that each picture must be smooth? 
Have a nice day.
-michael-
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By white dots, do you mean the general noise throughout the picture, or the specifically hot pixels... If you mean the noise, thats what I meant by grain, if you mean the hot pixels, im not entirely sure what caused that, its not a chip problem, ive taken well over 3000 frames since this shot and not noticed any problems with that at all. As far as the focus, I totally agree, its very soft, however, I can offer an explanation... This was one of the first shots in the series and I did not know until after this shot that I had chosen to focus too close to the lense for what I was shooting. I would sharpen this, however, I feel it makes the noise more apparent. Thanks alot for your comment! Take care and good luck shooting.
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white dots: I mean hot pixels. It's possible to check hot pixels on your own. I don't know the method since I don't have a digital camera. But maybe those aren't bad pixels.
sharpness: it's a pity, it would be wonderful shot
noise: I see, you are very concerned to smooth picture. I don't consider it (the noise) as a big mistake on some kind of pictures. Maybe because I still work with regular films and grain is natural part of images of analogue origin. I consider grain is better sharp than blurred.
your footer: I don't think I know everything. That's the only thing I know for sure!
(heh, it could be my own footer, couldn't? 
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Okay, makes sense. I know the pixels arent bad on the sensor (like I said, ive taken plenty of clean images since then) so I really dont know what caused that. I guess it wouldnt be too big of a deal to go back and clean them up a bit, at least the ones that really stick out. And youre very right about the shapness, it would have added alot.
Noise bothers me, im not sure why, but I think it distracts from the image as a whole, but I suppose youre right, as long as its sharp, its just a natural part. I still do a bit of film work, but mainly ASA 800 and lower, so, film grain doesnt strike me too too often.
Haha, that would be a funny signature if you did it. And yea, ill admit it, I dont know too much either lol.
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ASA800? Its quite grainy even on negatives isn't?
well, I've just set my signature! Thank you for inspiration. I can mention it in my journal
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It is, but I dont feel like it is as grainy as that particular image, and obviously darker colors show it alot worse, so that may have alot to do with it.
Nice! That makes me laugh, props!
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Nice shot, the grain does not effect much.
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Thanks alot man, im glad to hear that, I love the way the lightning turned in this one.
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grainy? who cares! this is an amazing shot! and you're right it going through the clouds is awesome!
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Nice shot dirk, couldn't have done it better myself, lol. This bolt looks like it almost came out of nowhere. You made a pretty good exposure here and caught alot of branching
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Thanks again! This was actually the first shot that night, and youre right, its a bit overexposed, I had the ISO cranked up to 1600 from some other night shots (oops) and on top of that the shutter was open for a full minute (oops again). I was thinking the same thing on the aperature, but it was all the way down at F/25, and then suddenly, an epiphany! I set the ISO to a mere 400, left the shutter open for only 20 seconds, and set the aperature a little more mildly in the middle, and low and behold, the other lightning shots, which are FAR less grainy, and to some extent less overexposed. If you look at both the lightning shots, youll probably see some good exposure in the clouds, and some overexposure in the actual bolt, and although I took a few with the bolt correctly exposed, and the rest of the frame fairly dark, I decided I liked the clouds... at least in the shots I have. You seem to have better luck balancing out the exposure than I, I might have to go out with you sometime and get some pointers!
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Man, for the first shot of the night you ended up pretty awesome
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AWSOME! I've heard that it's hard to photograph lightning, is that true?
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Umm, its not super easy, but its not impossible. I used the bulb setting and a remote shutter release on my camera (and a tripod) and came with alot of patience... it takes some practice to get it right, I think ive gotten maybe, 20 good shots out of well over 2000 taken, so if youre trying, just keep at it and youll get some! Good luck and thanks for the comment!!
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