There was a time for me when landscape photography was little more than an excuse to spend a week sleeping under the stars in some remote location, far from the masses. I’d search for those moments when the land became harmoniously balanced in the frame. I found I had one objective - to record beauty.

Now I find myself searching for an edge - an image that captures the elements in an animated display of life, to provoke an emotional response. It often involves getting wet, dirty and blown away - and for some strange reason, I enjoy this. Most photographers will put their cameras away when the skies darken and the threat of rain looms. But this is when things can get interesting - particularly when lightning strikes.

Capturing lightning is not difficult. The hardest part is anticipating where it will strike. Living on the southern coast of Australia has taught me the best time of year is between January and May. I’m not a meteorologist, but I’ve noticed a thing or two. A good sign is a high-pressure system. As it passess, forcing hot, dry, northerly winds out to sea, a trough sometimes follows. All going to plan, there’s a chance of the wind dropping and clouds building into the afternoon. By sunset, it is still. This is the point when I start to get excited, and head off looking for the perfect vantage point.

Watching a lightning storm travel across an ocean is mesmerising, and essential for anticipating a strike. Observe the sea where most bolts appear. This is your canvass. Form as interesting a composition as you can. As these pictures show, I chose an island with an outcrop as foreground interest, making sure I left a large enough space above the island for the lightning and sky. The next part relies on a little luck.

Have the shutter opens as long as possible. I use a Fuji Velvia, a 50 ISO transparency film. Combine a slow film with low light and you’re halfway there. In fact by using these techniques I was able to record this image with the shutter open for 30 seconds! Of course, there’s no guarantee you’ll see a bolt of lightning during that time. A general rule I use is to count the seconds between the track of thunder and the strike. A friend once convinced me that each second represented one mile from where I was standing to where the lightning struck. On the day I took these image, there was quite a distance, so I used a telephoto lens to get in close to the action.

At this point, we wait. Obviously a less intense storm will mean a longer wait, but as soon as you hear thunder, start counting. Just before you anticipate the strike, press the shutter. With the light fading, expose as many frames as possible.

I had a 30-second window for a bolt to fill the frame, yet out of 36 images taken on the day, only four were lucky enough to have recorded lightning. It really is a case of hit-and-miss at the beginning, with “hit” being the lightning in your frame, and “miss” avoiding a nasty shock. After all, what is tripod if not the perfect lightning conductor?

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Entry was posted on Saturday, June 14th, 2008 at 6:41 am under Photography tips, Tutorials, Tutorials - landscapes, Tutorials - shutter speed.

Read more entries by Dan Paris.