Storm chasing season is coming!!

I love chasing storms!!!

I am not a fan when storms come and chase me, but if I can go after them it is AMAZING!!!!  Below is some information on my storm chasing gear so you can be ready when things heat up!

Lightning storm
Evening storm

BEFORE I START A WARNING!!!

It is great to get some amazing storm pictures but be careful!!!  If you are not familiar with storms find someone to go out with for the first few times or take a course.  No picture is worth a death!!

Lightning Set-ups

I often get asked about how I do my lightning pictures so below is my current set-up. I have it tweaked so that it works really well and at the same time it keeps me safe. With this set-up I can shoot a storm and keep following it across southern Alberta without a problem.

  • I usually run two cameras at a time set on different areas of the sky – sometimes even with different ISO, Shutter speed and aperture to get different effects
  • Camera settings (ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture) will vary with the lightning, intensity and the time of day that you are shooting
  • I like this set-up over using the tripod as it is safer and I am able to move to follow the storm easily with minimal packing
  • I have two additional vehicles for shooting from.  The first one is a class C motor home, when I am doing lightning from this unit I find a good spot and shoot the storm as it passes.  The class C is designed to get to an area and shoot the storm and not to follow. The next vehicle is just getting ready for this years storm season and that is a Ford Transit van, with the sliding side door on the side I can shoot out of the van while sitting inside.
Lightning
Canon 40D with wired remote shutter release. Works great without rain, or light rain. (For heavy rain I use the next set-up or a tripod set up under the tail gate for distant lightning). Lens usually is either a 17 – 85 or a 10 – 20 – depends on what the other camera has on.
Lightning 3
The thing I like about this vehicle is that the seat folds down and the laptop has its own table.
Lightning 2
Canon 40D with laptop and Canon capture software. Camera is on the dash so in heavy rains at night I can run the wipers to keep the window clear and I am inside in the dryness. Capture software can be set to timer mode to fire repeatedly.

Forgot to add – Shut the vehicle off when shooting, pictures will be sharper!

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