Strike Archives - Bliss Photographics

Posted on July 27, 2020July 21, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Dying Mesocyclone Lightning Discharge

Just after the sun had set, the Massive rotating storm started to loose the energy that was forming it. Fueled ultimately by rising air from it’s heating influence. Starved from it’s energy source. The Mammatus clouds as above can be a sign of the big rotating storm collapsing.

This particular day was a storm filled afternoon. I suspect that HUGE bolt is 40 miles distant on the “Red Hills” (The name) making up that distant ridge. I use what is called a lightning trigger to “click” my shutter during hours where a time exposure would over expose. You can use neutral density filters on your camera to do time exposures during the day. I’m sort of a purist and don’t like screw on filters in front of my lenses. I have had images ruined by ghost images due to their effect. I point at the sun a lot, lightning probably isn’t that different. Bright Light and all that.

Photographic Musings:

At night however, a long exposure might do you. In pitch black, storm flashing away….need a tripod, with a timer or remote thumb trigger for your camera, start at ISO 300, F4 (ish) and say 20 seconds. Let it flash, wait a second, then click…. Don’t touch anything until the shutter closes. Then look to see what you got. Go longer or shorter exposure to bring the image into reality. Now you know pretty much what I do to do this.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming / Montana borderlands (Wyotana)

Title: Dying Mesocyclone Lightning Discharge

Posted on December 1, 2019November 24, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Bolt Striking the Red Hills

Bolt Striking the Red Hills is a MASSIVE strike. That ridge is 40 miles distant from my Telephoto lens which was trained where the last bolt struck. Quite often bolts will strike very close to the previous ones. I look for patterns and focus on that area.

I do use lightning triggers on my cameras. These are boxes that automatically sense lightning by the pattern of flashes they generate. They Trigger my Sony’s in mere microseconds. I endorse no particular brand as the several I’ve tried all have their issues but “generally” work. None are “cheap” but then again, look what you get for your efforts. I might only get 1 in 20 bolts I try to get manually without time exposures. These are 1/4 second exposures at other settings that bring in the landscape.

In pitch dark, you just set the camera on a tripod, remotely trigger it or timer the shutter at about 25 seconds at let the lightning display. This technique is the best way to get multiple bolts. This capture however was a single discharge with multiple plasma channels reaching down. This is the kind of bolt that will start fires. Forested ground is particularly easy to burn. That ridge often has a fire call during dry electrical storms that pass through now and then.

We have a local rancher that helps as a Range Officer at our Wyoming Tactical Rifle Championship in 2018 that had to leave the event. All because of a lightning strike near his ranch up in those very hills. The response of several departments along with hundreds of men saved his homestead. Unfortunately some of his ranch burned.. The grass will grow back greener the next year, I’ve seen it.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Bolt Striking the Red Hills

Posted on November 17, 2019November 16, 2019 by Bliss

Lighting Up the Landscape

A large Crimson Backed Amphi-theatre was illuminated centrally. Struck by this serious bolt. Lighting Up the Landscape around the strike was obvious.

I know this is out of season but I’m redoing my portfolio to current standards and this is one of 4500 left to do. Various topics, images and seasons will work their way into my posting workflow all winter. Hope you don’t mind.

The Science of this:

These bolts are a large-scale natural spark discharge. These occur within the atmosphere itself or between the atmosphere and the ground. Created during the moment of discharge, a highly electrically conductive “plasma” channel is created. When electrons flow within this channel, rapid heating of the air up to about 45,000 degrees F.

This Plasma Channel formation was captured by a lightning Trigger. Taken this images was with a Sony Alpha 7RII camera. A Priority is to not overexposing the back ground light in the sky. There isa necessity of not being TOO dark is tricky and this lesson beyond the scope of this narrative. Teeter totter/knife edge riding occurs by tweeking the camera’s settings. (3 way teeter totter). This is a common theme (teeter totter) when I’m trying to explain the light balance and the three settings in a camera set to manual mode. Remember this metaphor if your trying to learn photography.

One seat on the teeter totter is ISO or camera sensitivity. Turn it up, get more light in the camera but at a cost of grainy pictures and visual noise.

Seat 2 is F-stop or aperture (pupil size of the lens). Too big and your depth of focus goes to heck like trying to read in the dark. Too small a hole and you get a really deep focal field (depth) but you loose a LOT of light with a pin hole in your lens.

Seat 3 is shutter speed. Too fast and not enough light will get in. Too slow and you get a blur, (or a time exposure if your on a tripod with the other two seats on this teeter totter set right.

All seats working together properly is the forumula for any particular light situation.

Flash…. 1, 2, 3, 4 boom. Slightly less than a mile away hitting lower than the ridge I was on but in my Jeep Grand Cherokee enjoying the show

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Lighting Up the Landscape

Posted on October 5, 2019September 28, 2019 by Bliss

Blurred Windmill with Rainbow Twins and Lightning

So Taking a photo of a Blurred Windmill during the day with amazingly divergent Rainbow Twins behind, and a totally random lightning strike hits just as you hit the shutter… Priceless lolol. I swear this is not a composite and is an unmolested image. Filed under totally random things that happen if you press the shutter button enough. Technically the lightning photobombed “Sneaky Pete” the windmill who is the champion photobombing windmill of all times. I have no control over his actions 😂 . I certainly didn’t have a lightning trigger on this camera (I own and use 2 of them WHEN I work lightning). I was taking a double rainbow lolol. Flash boom.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.