October 4, 2010

Lightning Strikes. Not Once, but....

It’s usually the simple things—the white clouds on the horizon, the crisp red branch of the Manzanita, the amber sky of the setting sun—that nature reveals to us.  But once in a while, if you’re in the right place at the right time, she can reveal much more.  

It was around 2:30 am Saturday morning when I woke.  My heart was racing and my breath was short.  I must have been dehydrated, I thought, so I downed some water and waited to fall back to sleep.  But my heart was still active, and the darkened room lit up as I lay waiting.  But what was I waiting for?  Another flash, then another.  Finally I get up and walked out to the balcony.  Before me unfolds one of those rare moments.
A tropical depression, unusual this late in the year, was moving up the coast off southern California.  My wife and I were celebrating our 13th anniversary on the island of Catalina. I was standing on the balcony overlooking the pitch black ocean. Lightning pierced the darkness with brilliant bolts that made my hair stand on end.  One, two, three bolts.  Then multiples of that.  We stood there for two hours watching as the storm moved closer.  A fishing boat, anchored just off the shore, made a run to the mainland as the lightning closed in.


Fortunately I brought my SLR and tripod on the trip to capture some of the scenery.  For those interested I caught the lightening by setting the shutter speed to 20 to 30 seconds with the aperture set high, around 24, for maximum depth of field.  I kept shooting in the general direction of the storm and got a couple right on the money. 

Hope you enjoy the pics cause I really enjoyed taking them! 


Oh yea, I almost forgot.  I got a couple of great runs in on the Island as well! 




Tropical System The Day Before -- Humid! 
Hey, its our 13th!
Pre Fish Tour



13 comments:

KovasP said...

Love lightning storms, thanks for sharing those pics!

Kim said...

The lighting pics are so vivid. Love the shot with the boat in the picture. Beautiful.

HEATHERRUNS said...

WoW!!! amazing pictures- You could frame any one of them! You're getting pretty good with that camera!

Rís said...

fantastic pics. well done!

Unknown said...

Superb photos, it took me about 10 years of trying to get one even half as good as those.

Good to get a run in, but only if your wife allows you too,
Happy Anniversary!
Andy

Asha said...

Wow! That pic of the booze is breathtaking!!

Rachel said...

wow! sounds like quite the experience. awesome shots! and happy anniversary : )

EricG said...

Amazing Will! And what a treat it must have been to sit out there with your wife watching this as part of your weekend celebration.
Happy 13th. Peace

Emz said...

will!! I did my first 50! Thought of you while running. I now see why you do this. It's awesome!!

Love the pictures!!

Will Cooper said...

thanks all...those are some nice comments. Its my first effort at filming lightning, white or real. EMZ, I saw your post...you rocked on your first 50! great job!

Q said...

Oh those lightning shots, WOW!!! Those are incredible.

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Hone said...

Awesome!