Moontanman Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 :circle:;) Dateline Vancouver USA 50ºF on my porch right now, cloudy & raining. Coldest 'June-uary' in nearly 10 yrs | Local News | kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington :):smilingsun:Dateline Wilmington, NC 100F+ for the last three days, hottest June on record since record keeping began. We got a break today, it was only 98F...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 We went from chilly to heat wave last week. It hit 102 F on my porch Saturday. Here's some lightning I caught on Sunday evening about 9pm. Nothing closer than about 4 miles. Two men were struck South of me in Oregon, and the weather service is working to confirm a tornado as well over there. :hihi::weather_storm:Forecast calls for mid-90s, possible thunderstorms - Breaking News Updates from Portland and Oregon - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com I have a time-lapse of some ominous black clouds after the lightning, and in it you see some fireworks the neighbors shoot up. Some peoples' kids! :shrug: What a nice conductive path that rocket exhaust makes. ;) BRB with video as soon as it finishes processing. Edit: it's still wet so be careful. >> YouTube - Black Storm & Fireworks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO5V9ONQdS8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougF Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 you caught some nice stills of that lightning Turtle, good job. We were in a dry spell here that lasted all year :)(seriously I've only had 1" of rain sense January) but two weeks ago the afternoon rains have returned :) and things are back to normal again. ;)(I can't believe how green my grass looks now, It's growing like a weed,) (no not that one, that one is a weed) :doh: Monthly Weather Forecast for Leesburg, FL (34749) - weather.com... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 you caught some nice stills of that lightning Turtle, good job. Danke! :) I have the technique down to a science. (I can't believe how green my grass looks now, It's growing like a weed,) (no not that one, that one is a weed) :naughty: Monthly Weather Forecast for Leesburg, FL (34749) - weather.com In spite of the recent thunderstorms, I received very little rain. June here is very dry, and I had to water my lawn this week. :( We still have cloudiness today from a system offshore pushing in, but we also have very hazy skies from the smoke coming up from the lightning-sparked California fires. :eek: What is extraordinary this year is the number of fires burning at the same time, Kirchner said. The weekend of June 21 saw some 1,200 fires burning — a figure Forest Service officials said appeared to be an all-time record in California. ...Even a modest rain storm — highly unusual in July — would do little to diminish the likelihood of a long, tough fire season, Heil said. "Unless it rains, and we get some really good rainfall, you can pretty much expect it to be here right through October," he said. ...California firefighters have to pick their battles | Newsweek News | Newsweek.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modest Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Danke! I have the technique down to a science. :naughty: Do tell because I've tried before. Ended up with a few dozen shots of black sky and one with half a bolt of lightning. My digital may be too slow though ~modest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Danke! :) I have the technique down to a science. Do tell because I've tried before. Ended up with a few dozen shots of black sky and one with half a bolt of lightning. My digital may be too slow though ~modest I use a video camera mounted on a tripod, and then review it frame by frame for strikes which I then save as stills. The resolution is about 1/3 of my camera's still mode, but my still mode does not have the necessary features to get lightning. Back in my film TLR & SLR days, I got lighning shots at night by using slow film, a small aperature, and locking the shutter open on the 'B' setting. (pop quiz! what does that 'B' stand for? :eek: :D :( ) I would then take frame exposures of 1 minute to several minutes, close the shutter, advance the film, and open the shutter again. When a strike occured, I closed the shutter & advanced the film. With a 36 exposure roll, I could stretch my session time to a couple of hours per roll. Chaos favors the prepared imagination. :naughty: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modest Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 I use a video camera mounted on a tripod, and then review it frame by frame for strikes which I then save as stills. The resolution is about 1/3 of my camera's still mode, but my still mode does not have the necessary features to get lightning. Good call. I think my camera now has an option for a quick succession of shots as well as video. When I did this a few years ago my camera had neither option. Back in my film TLR & SLR days, I got lighning shots at night by using slow film, a small aperature, and locking the shutter open on the 'B' setting. (pop quiz! what does that 'B' stand for? :eek: ) I would then take frame exposures of 1 minute to several minutes, close the shutter, advance the film, and open the shutter again. When a strike occured, I closed the shutter & advanced the film. With a 36 exposure roll, I could stretch my session time to a couple of hours per roll. Chaos favors the prepared imagination. :naughty: Very clever thinking. What does b stand for? I'm clueless. Isn't that the setting where you hold the button down? Is it button? ~modest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 What does b stand for? I'm clueless. Isn't that the setting where you hold the button down? Is it button? ~modest Yes that's the setting. The 'B' is for bulb, as in the old-style rubber pneumatic squeeze bulbs use to trip camera shutters. As long as the 'button' is depressed, the shutter remains open. I used a cable release which had a locking set-screw to hold the shutter open without having to stand there holding the button. The cable release also isolates the camera from vibrations from the phtographer touching it. Is this an option on today's digital SLR or other cameras? :naughty: Say whiskey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Just went out to check the weather & saw a splendid blood-red Sun. By the time I returned with my camera it had disappeared in the clouds. :eek: No matter. I was out because we have the chance of thunderstorms tonight & there is nothing so telling of weather as its smell. The last storms have fires burning in Oregon & Washington now. More than 3000 lightning strikes were recorded in Oregon and Washington Monday night. That's on the heels of another lightning storm Sunday night that started a number of small fires mostly east of the Cascades. Jeri Mills is with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. She says fire managers are using maps of lightning strikes, aerial reconnaissance, and ground crews to find fires before they get big....http://news.opb.org/article/2484-another-lightning-storm-moves-through-oregon-and-washington/ My radio & TV simultaneously crackled at most of those 3,000 strikkkkkkkkes. :shrug: Off to set up the camera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 So far so good. I have 2 or 3 nice lightning strikes recorded, far off to the East on the other side of the Cascades. I have the camera feeding to the TV, and I may have also just caught a meteor a bit ago. :lol: :lol: The weather forecast is for thunderstorm activity to increase yet tonight, so it's gonna be a long one. :hihi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modest Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Yes that's the setting. The 'B' is for bulb, :lol: Is this an option on today's digital SLR or other cameras? :hihi: Say whiskey! :lol: Not to press and hold, at least not on mine. I can turn the shutter duration up to 15 seconds - that's the limit. Actually, I might be able to catch some lightning with that. It's raining here now - but I'm not seeing much in the way of lightning. Thanks for the clever thinking with that T ~modest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 :doh: Not to press and hold, at least not on mine. I can turn the shutter duration up to 15 seconds - that's the limit. Actually, I might be able to catch some lightning with that. It's raining here now - but I'm not seeing much in the way of lightning. Thanks for the clever thinking with that T ~modest That ought to do it. Good luck! Weather here is 78º F, barometer 29.9, and hazy from smoke; I found 2/10" of rain in the gauge this morning. Unfortunately one has to follow clever thinking with hard work and I am still editing my recording. My video camera uses a hard drive and records continuously, but 8 hour files puts the computer in a tizzy. I have to split out the segments with lightning strikes on the camera and delete the dross. :eek: So far today I have a couple dozen segments with strikes going from 9pm to 3am, but I still have 4 more hours of recording to review. So much for the end of darkroom days! :D Be back this evening with some lightning photos. :shrug: :hyper: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Wow! I caught some great stuff!! I fell asleep just as it got good starting ~ 3 am and going 'til 3:50am. I ended up with 80+ clips and only now starting with the computer editing. I have one sequence done, and it starts with video/audio of the thunder & then a cloud to cloud lightning stroke, and finishes with frame by frame stills of the stroke. Much more to come. :shrug: Popcorn! Get yer popcorn here. :hyper: YouTube - Lightning Storm Sequence 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LwhuUjRRSE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grains Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 We went from chilly to heat wave last week. It hit 102 F on my porch Saturday. Here's some lightning I caught on Sunday evening about 9pm. Nothing closer than about 4 miles. Two men were struck South of me in Oregon, and the weather service is working to confirm a tornado as well over there. :hihi::weather_storm: thats awesome!!! good show!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougF Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Very Very nice Turtle-son, :hihi: :confused:Question: Do you think lighting would trip the motions censer on my camera? :hihi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 thats awesome!!! good show!!! Very Very nice Turtle-son, :hyper: :hihi: Question: Do you think lighting would trip the motions censer on my camera? :hihi: Thanks fellas. :) Just don't forget not to feed the turtle after midnight! :D Got another video ready & I got the date wrong on the header. :hyper: Oh well. :hyper: This series of strikes was looking ESE over the Cascade Mountains and all occured within 10 minutes around 9pm. The previous video and the rest to follow are looking SW after 3am. :confused: :hyper: YouTube - Lightning Storm Sequence 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT7JXqCYTiI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Question: Do you think lighting would trip the motions censer on my camera? :) Sorry D; forgot to answer this. I don't think so, no. One way to find out though. :lightning :) Here's the next video, and it's another that is a single stroke/counterstroke sequence. I start with the real-time video, and then follow with 47 sequential frames of the event. (I had the camera on normal automatic settings; shutter speed is 1/30th second.) YouTube - Lightning Storm Sequence 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx43OS9JBL0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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