Living in the midwest, lightning and storms in general are nothing to be lightly dismissed.
Having said that, great pics!
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
I totally miss good thunder storms from back home.
cosanostradamus
· 1 year ago
. Proof positive that God is indeed a Democrat.
Otherwise, yer ass'd a been TOAST! .
Aanya
· 1 year ago
John in the second shot, that's a grand daddy of a "wall cloud", the exact spot a tornado will spawn from. Rule #1, take those shots from behind the patio glass door, shut tight, locked, and only if you don't see swirling up in that wall cloud! People have been killed by lightning from an open front door, or in a garage with the door open! We can't get along without you, be careful!!!!!!!!
chowderSF
· 1 year ago
Gawd, I miss those kind of storms. Here in San Fran, we are lucky to get a little thunder every other year or so. Usually lots of rain, just no fireworks. Growing up in Iowa, I never ceased to be amazed at the wonder of thunder and lightening. Great pics!!
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Earthquakes aren't enough for you?
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
Next time I suggest that you stand on your rooftop not a balcony. If there is a radio antenna this will give you a chance to get us some real close shots! give it a try.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
A Hillary supporter, I presume?
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
No I hate Hillary as much as or more than you. I was being sarcastic. My English teacher said I am what he calls a tragic hero. When I am trying to be serous people thing I am joking, and when I am joking they think I am being serous. I do love to laugh at irony, even when I am the subject. :>D
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
Use emoticons :-)
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
I just figured out that my yahoo emoticons don't show up on ablog. I guess I will just have to do it the old fashioned way. :>) --- Disqus <>
joshmo
· 1 year ago
... that is pretty incredible! I have beheld this same system, watched a pretty amazing light show last night!
wyldberi
· 1 year ago
This is probably god warning Congress that if they don't get busy taking Rep. Kucinich's Impeachment Resolution serious, the next bolts will be closer to home.
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
Well I just took several more,I think some good ones, but that's it, it doesn't feel terribly safe. And having grown up in the midwest, I shouldn't let me awe overtake me, but still, I have always just freaking loved thunderstorms.
prairielogic
· 1 year ago
I believe that strike by the Capitol went down as I was walking to get a bottle of wine... damn that was loud!
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Chuck Todd's list of Obama veep possibilities is getting a lot of attention:
Ditto: from the Midwest and l.o.v.e. storms, the wilder the better.
Steve_in_CNJ
· 1 year ago
So i take it those are still shots rather than movie frames. How long was the exposure? Did you get lucky with the timing?
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
Yeah, still shots. Actually, the first two I just sat ready to shoot them, had the camera pointing where there seemed to be more lightning, and the second I sensed light I snapped. For the other 4 or so pics I just posted, those I did a continuous shoot where you can set the camera to keep shooting, and I took about 800 photos, literally, to get those 4. Funny though, the better shots in a way were the ones I took just waiting. And it was still light out, so the exposure was pretty normal for the first two shots - those were 1/25th and 1/50th (the one hitting the ground in front of the capitol was 1/50th). I'm actually surprised now that I see how fast the exposure was.
kiki
· 1 year ago
Hmmmm, first time I ever saw pink lightning. It is usually white in pictures.
JamesR
· 1 year ago
That is one (two) AWESOME one or two in a ZILLION shots. Especially with your camera.
Maybe it means you were wrong assessing the chances and efficacy of Impeachment?
CDS2
· 1 year ago
Awsome pictures. If I remember correctly, you are using a Canon AF700 Digital? How did you keep the shutter open so long?
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
Actually, I found a work around. It just hit me tonight. Set it on continuous shot and keep snapping photos in the direction of where you're seeing the most lightning. And yep, that's the camera. So didn't have to do a long shutter at all. Well, for the last couple of pictures I just posted, I did, but there's a trick for that too. When you have it set on the manual setting, hit the "func set" button, then scroll up to the +-0 setting and then hit the "menu" button - voila, it now gives you options to leave the lens open for the number of seconds you ask it to. To undo it, just hit the menu button again and you're back to normal.
Though, that was for the latter shots I just posted. For the first two, I set there pointing in the right direction, ready to click, and kept starting at the horizon, and the second I saw light I snapped. And got very lucky.
Rob Mule
· 1 year ago
Not very safe at all but dramatic shots for sure. A bolt like that could set a house or apartment on fire or fry you to a crisp...What did Remy say of his mushroom and cheese on a bolt struck stick in 'Ratatouille'?
martha
· 1 year ago
We all do stupid things.
ezpz
· 1 year ago
Absolutely stunning! Congrats on what must be a very gratifying accomplishment.
Anyone care to predict how long it will be before someone says that mentioning Reagan's assassination is inappropriate?
Barb_in_DC
· 1 year ago
Y'all don't know what a thunder looks like in the Southwestern desert. AWESOME! Still, I'm very grateful for tonight's rain. Otherwise, I would be across the street with a hose watering the park. I'm one of the idiots who prays for rain on a daily basis.
One of the most wonderful results of this storm is that the temperature has DROPPED. John and I have (and everybody else in the Mid-Atlantic) have suffered through four days of absolute misery.
ndtovent
· 1 year ago
That's the damn truth. Wayyyy too early in the season for the kind of heat we've had.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
Awesome lightning pics.
AngelaChanning
· 1 year ago
I love thunderstorms. As a child, I would go out on our front porch to watch them and my mother would promptly order me into the house and also demand that I not touch the rod iron railings. Growing up in Baltimore was weird at times. LOL.
jr
· 1 year ago
this would make cool desktop wallpaper
MNUSA
· 1 year ago
Those are really dramatic photos. What camera did you use?
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
Just my Canon Powershot SD700. It's a relatively automated small camera, but you can lock in the exposure and make it semi-manual. It takes good pictures though, once you get the hang of it. I just posted a few more shots I took with the next wave of storms we got about an hour ago.
bronco214
· 1 year ago
Ma Nature showin' off- Cool! Almost as good as Orchid Friday. Then again- hell, I don't know. All of Nature is beautiful, Right?
Hardy_Haberman
· 1 year ago
Great lightning photos!
scottinsf
· 1 year ago
I saw a picture a few weeks back linked from Fark of a volcano in Chile spewing a big ash cloud with all sorts of lightening around it. It was a pretty awesome picture. All the comments on that thread were claiming it had to be faked or photoshopped. I don't think it was. I was a teenager when we had a huge volcanic ash cloud descend on my hometown. The static electricity in the ash clouds created the most amazing, colorful (greens and reds) lightening I have ever seen in my life. It didn't send bolts to the ground but rather just constantly pulsed and crackled hundreds of feet overhead. It was one of those once in a lifetime things you never forget.
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
Yeah I've been in a volcanic eruption, in Anchorage back in the early 90s. Very freaky. We didn't have lightning, just pitch black,all day long. I recently read Plineus the Younger's description of the eruption at Pompeii - it was like being in a sealed room, there there was no light, nothing - creepy as hell.
Apt604
· 1 year ago
Nice photos. I was out on my balcony at the same time, not too far away, although the view wasn't anywhere as good as yours.
TomJoad
· 1 year ago
GREAT shots! That first one it absolutely breathtaking. Wonderfully composed and shot, and so clear and focused. Excellent!
lauren1959
· 1 year ago
Very impressive!
Indigo
· 1 year ago
Nice. The highest number of lightening strikes and death from lightening strikes in the United States is in . . . yes! central Florida! We had 137 lightening strikes Tuesday evening in a 20 minute period. Come watch! It's spectacular.
no
· 1 year ago
having moved from DC to KC last july, the storms out here are way more intense than DC... i was not prepared for it at all -- these are awesome pics!
All Comments
Having said that, great pics!
Proof positive that God is indeed a Democrat.
Otherwise, yer ass'd a been TOAST!
.
give it a try.
up on ablog. I guess I will just have to do it the old
fashioned way. :>)
--- Disqus <>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/10/obamas...
Truly very cool.
Ditto: from the Midwest and l.o.v.e. storms, the wilder the better.
Maybe it means you were wrong assessing the chances and efficacy of Impeachment?
Though, that was for the latter shots I just posted. For the first two, I set there pointing in the right direction, ready to click, and kept starting at the horizon, and the second I saw light I snapped. And got very lucky.
Congrats on what must be a very gratifying accomplishment.
http://www.queersunited.blogspot.com
One of the most wonderful results of this storm is that the temperature has DROPPED. John and I have (and everybody else in the Mid-Atlantic) have suffered through four days of absolute misery.