News - Blogs - See lightning photos and learn how to take them

See lightning photos and learn how to take them
Published: 6/17/2011 7:00 AM
Last Modified: 6/16/2011 4:11 PM

"Nov. 12, 1955? That was the date I went back... um... that was the date of the famous Hill Valley lightning storm!" -- Marty McFly (Photo credit: 2004 AP file photo by Tina Fineberg of Back to the Future actor Michael J. Fox)

With Thursday morning's storms, I thought some amazing lightning photos from around the world this month would be appropriate.

But before that, how can us non-professionals go about capturing our own lightning photographs like a pro? I asked Tulsa World Chief Photographer Tom Gilbert:

"When shooting lightning on a still camera the best method is to use a tripod and have the shutter open for a long period of time.

"Since lightning is light and photography is painting with light, you have to visualize that when the shutter is open you are painting, so small aperture and a long exposure is ideal for capturing lightning, although I have gotten lucky and had short exposure and captured the bolt."

The easiest route, Gilbert says, is to use video capture mode and using a screen capture of the video to find your perfect lightning shot. This allows you to continue to shoot and not miss a lightning bolt.

With lightning storms often comes precipitation however, so Gilbert recommends avoiding shooting through wet windows or testing the waterproofness of your expensive camera equipment and finding cover in an outdoor setting, such as a parking garage.

And now, as promised, lightning:

A lone cypress tree surrounded by the waters of Clear Lake in LaPorte, Ind. is illuminated by a bolt of lightning on June 8. (Photo credit: BOB WELLINSKI/AP Photo/LaPorte Herald Argus)

Lightning is best accompanied by a rainbow, as seen here over the state agency buildings at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, N.Y., on June 8. (Photo credit: MIKE GROLL/AP Photo)

Lightning over downtown New London, Conn. June 9, part of a line of powerful thunderstorms across Connecticut that knocked out power to thousands of homes. (Photo credit: TIM COOK/AP Photo/The Day)

A lightning bolt touches down to the left of the Alfred E. Smith Building during a storm in Albany, N.Y., on June 8. (Photo credit: MIKE GROLL/AP Photo)

No, that's not a white string on your monitor, just a thin lightning bolt above Coors Field during a weather delay in the sixth inning of a baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres Monday in Denver. (Photo credit: JACK DEMPSEY/AP Photo)

One more photo from the aftermath of Chile's volcano eruption: A column of smoke and volcanic lightning are seen over the Puyehue volcano, more than 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile on June 5. Some more photos and background can be viewed in Monday's entry here. (Photo credit: FRANCISCO NEGRONI/AP Photo/AgenciaUno)

Finally, a look at the clouds from the past week that led to some of these storms (NOAA cloud images by Weather Underground):

-Althea Peterson

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

>> Visit the main weather page
>> Send us your weather photos
>> Meet the forecasters

Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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