Hello Everyone! I'll start off by wishing everyone a happy and easy week. As mentioned in my post yesterday, I spent the past weekend taking photos all over New York with one of my friends. Friday we decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge to "Empire Fulton Ferry State Park" to set up for some sunset photos. We were about to pack up and leave when all of a sudden a massive storm blew in out of no where. Although we were there to focus on the Brooklyn Bridge, I noticed a lightning storm north of where we were standing. I pointed the camera NW and framed a shot with the Manhattan Bridge. Sure enough I managed to capture several shots with lightning bolts. This was the last shot I took before massive raindrops started falling. We quickly packed up our gear into our bags and covered them with the pullout rain covers. Many people think that capturing a lighting shot is all about quick reflexes. It's not, here's the little secret.... It's all about long exposures. Set the focus to infinity and grab several long exposures. Camera Data from this shot: Camera: Nikon D3 Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 Shutter: 52 Seconds F Stop: f/22 ISO: 200 No HDR Taken with Gitzo Tripod

OK - for those that have envied my deck, and the beautiful clouds... these lightening bolts were also shot from my deck. This is my very first, on purpose, shot of lightening... and my best thus far. It was a very interesting storm, hitting East Tennessee just before Hurricane Ike touched land in the gulf. Massive clouds, massive thunder... only a few clear bolts coming through near my house. This is AS SHOT - only cropped. Hope you enjoy this shot. Camera: Canon EOS 30D Exposure: 30 sec (30) Aperture: f/14 Focal Length: 55 mm ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: -1 EV Flash: Flash did not fire