Today I came home from work and just as I arrived home it started to drizzle. By the time I got up to my apartment it was raining solidly and there were lightning bursts everywhere. I am fascinated, albeit scared, of lightning and I thought to myself, "let me take a picture of this!" But then I realized I didn't really know how to do that, so I thought like a student and Googled "take a photo of lightning." I clicked on the first link, quickly skimmed the article, and grabbed my camera.
I realize I didn't have a tripod at home, but had a small gorillapod. I also had a remote timer that SpecialKRB had recommended to me, so I grabbed that to. I set up the little tripod on top of my grill and tried to keep my camera out of the rain (not easy). I also tried to get over the railing on the terrace (also not easy). In 5 minutes of shooting, I got one cool strike of lightning (although admittedly the composition stinks). Then it was dinner time (it's a school night after all), so I came inside with my now-wet camera.
The beauty is that I feel fully ready for the next time I see a lightning storm. I know what I'll do, the mode my camera will be on (manual, ISO 100, aperture ~8, shutter speed set to bulb mode) and where I'll set up.
I love learning.
No wonder I love teaching.
A happy end to a long day...
