Photo Adventures with Curiosity and Learning


April 28, 2011:Rain and Rain and more Rain

There was a huge rain yesterday (Apr 30) and here are some rain drops as evidence.

apr 30 3945 rain drops

May 1, 2011: Lightning, Sunrise and Storms

Then about 4:30 am, there was lots of lightning but little thunder. I lay in bed for sometime before realizing this is a rare photo opportunity. So with camera off I went to a clear area.

There are a couple of challenges with catching lightning
  1. How to you focus when the lens infinity setting is not quite correct?
  2. What shutter speed?
  3. What aperture setting?
  4. How to avoid possible rain and near hits of lightning?

Answers

  1. I selected a light on a fishing kelong near the lightning and the autofocus worked. Then I switched to manual focus and did not go near the focus ring
  2. 5 sec exposure. I started the exposure when there was a light - prelude more-to-come
  3. f/6.3 - enough to suppress the dawn light
  4. About avoiding rain etc - I was just plain lucky
Here is lightning over Mapur Island - from cloud to land as well as cloud to cloud

may 01 3995 mapur lightning

Dramatic cloud to cloud lightning

may 01 4002 cloud cloud lightning

Less dramatic - but nevertheless interesting

may 01 4006 lightning

Here you get some idea of depth - a nearby hit to the land and in the background fainter bolts of lightning. And a wiggly cloud-to-cloud bolt

may 01 4011 lightning

Sunrise colors

may 01 4018 sunrise colors

Before sunrise - most colors are diffracted below the horizon - but red is there. This sequence shows the decreasing dominance of red light as the time-to-sunrise decreases

may 01 4019 agro sunrise reflections

Note here the reds are no longer dominant as the other colors contribute to illuminating clouds

may 01 4042 sunrise colors

The approaching strom to the right - where all the lightning is/was

may 01 4071 approaching storm

Morning fishing

may 01 4085 morning fishing

Morning fishing

may 01 4088 morning fishing

Reflections and the storm to the right

may 01 4097 storm reflections

A thoughtful fisherman

may 01 4103 morning fishing solitude

Wider view

may 01 4106 morning fishing

Upward directed rays of sun - as the sun has risen but hidden by lower clouds

may 01 4116 storm rays

A broader array of upward directed light

may 01 4125 storm rays

Not so strong upward directed rays

may 01 4137 morning rays

Diagonal rays of sunlight

may 01 4154 morning sun rays

The pool and another view

may 01 4160 morning sun rays

Smiles from Asiana

may 01 4163 asiana smile

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

C. Frank Starmer

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