Lightning strikes a tree in the Black Hills of South Dakota at 2:21 p.m. MDT, August 23, 2014. Photo by Bill Gabbert
Lightning in the Black Hills
6 thoughts on “Lightning in the Black Hills”
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News and opinion about wildland fire
Lightning strikes a tree in the Black Hills of South Dakota at 2:21 p.m. MDT, August 23, 2014. Photo by Bill Gabbert
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Great capture Bill!
We have all seen images of down strikes in metro areas- like those hitting the Empire State Building, etc, etc. But this is the first really good, color image I recall seeing in a wildland setting. (Perhaps it is more correctly a WUI setting).
Never-the-less I can only suspect how you did it but good job!
Thanks David. In daylight it’s tough to capture photos of lightning because you can’t use a long, many-second exposure. What I do is point the camera (Canon EOS 20D) where I expect the lighting to occur, hold down the shutter button half way to get the focus and exposure set, then wait for the down strike to depress it the rest of the way. It’s a test of reflexes. There’s lots of misses, but sometimes I get the lightning in the shot. Like I did in 2012 at Wind Cave National Park and at a fire near Cascade, SD.
I didn’t have too many chances today, because it started raining very hard after just a few minutes. I was shooting from the open window of my truck, so I was not worried too much about being struck by the lightning.
Wow Bill!
I followed your links- all great shots. Your method is simpler than I suspected. Here in rural Northern Nevada we get our share of lightning. Motivates me to get out there with my Canon PowerShot ELPH 300HS and give your method a try.
Be careful Bill. I have FS buddies who were injured- one was even killed by lightning…
Nice photo and it shows the great power and heat produced by a solid ground strike.
Living in Florida I see a lot of it. A few years ago I watched a strike hit a high voltage power line, blow up a transformer completely, run down a 220 volt line to a house across the street and blow out part of the roof and start a fire in the entire attic. It all happened in a instant with a single intense white flash. Thankfully the fire station is only 2 miles away and they were there in a few minutes. Later I saw the meter box blown open and the wiring to the circuit breaker box all melted.
Are you getting a lot of rain over there, Bill?
Chris, it’s been a really wet, and green summer. There have been no large fires in the Black Hills this year.