2738
2739

Lightning on the Horizon (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by _Connor

all 163 comments
sorted by:
best
best
top
new
hot
controversial
old

[–]KellyCommaRoy 100 points101 points ago

Modified so you can stick it in the middle of a black background on your desktop.

[–]Team_Coco_13 10 points11 points ago

Thank you sir. Now I can also use this for my iPhone background.

[–]Aeras4109 2 points3 points ago

You sir, are brilliant!

[–]welliesong 4 points5 points ago

Exactly what i needed. Thanks!

[–]_Connor[S] 10 points11 points ago

Nice!

[–]alexcroox 3 points4 points ago

This looks great thank you!

Edit: and on mobile too

[–]KellyCommaRoy 0 points1 point ago

Nice, I never thought about mobile!

[–]GagsLibya 1 point2 points ago

I'm so easily persuaded.

[–]k5clc1 0 points1 point ago

Just when i thought we survived the mayan apocalypse!

[–]vegasdavidson 0 points1 point ago

Thank you!

[–]kindaladylike 16 points17 points ago

Original image source

[–]SeedyOne 1 point2 points ago

Too bad it isn't offered as a print. I'd gladly pay for it (or a high-res version).

[–]Trapped_in_Robot 44 points45 points ago

Very nice. Post a hi res version?

~ SpiceCake68

This image has been submitted 6 times before. Above is the previous top comment.

[–]Forgototherpassword 5 points6 points ago

Awesome, could you also post the link to the High res image? Also I read in another thread a while back that you could do something to the Imgur link to change it to a high res version(if there is one), anyone know how?

Thank you in advance.

[–]BCP27 8 points9 points ago

http://www.reddit.com/r/SkyPorn/comments/11biod/lightning_lighting_up_huge_cloud_xpost_from_rpics/c6l1qyx

Here's what the OP responded with in the thread Trapped_in-Robot linked to.

[–]swagless 1 point2 points ago

Purple smoky lightning, very very frightening.

[–]MrJAPoe 4 points5 points ago

Reminds me of the ending of the good karma storyline of inFAMOUS 2

I'm sad now...

[–]Kompany 0 points1 point ago

It reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's "Dry Lightning" I'm melancholic now...

[–]Servo112 2 points3 points ago

Thor.

[–]Space_Odyssey 5 points6 points ago

How to people take these kind of pictures? I always miss the goddamn shot.

[–]lam94 6 points7 points ago

It looks like a digital painting, Don't know though.

[–]tokimonster 4 points5 points ago

yeah that water texture is all kinds of janked, i think its a painting too.

[–]Yeti_Rider 4 points5 points ago

As someone who has done a fair bit of lightning photography, I'd say this was shot with a fairly high ISO then treated to an OVERLY heavy handed de-noising, giving it that painted look.

[–]tokimonster 2 points3 points ago

yeah, its either gonna be an amazing mattepainting style image or an overly fussed with photo. Thanks for your expertise~

[–]toiletpaper 0 points1 point ago

this shit is blatently shopped. i mean you can see the smudging on the clouds, it's insanely apparent.

[–]_Connor[S] 11 points12 points ago

I'm not a photographer but I think they literally take thousands of pictures of the one spot, then eventually one of those pictures will be something like this.

[–]xlaxplaya 7 points8 points ago

Also not a photographer, but I think extended exposures help too. We need a real photographer in here...

[–]counterfitfake 8 points9 points ago

For night shots:

"The idea is to leave the shutter open for long enough to capture a lightning strike, but not long enough that too much light creeps into your camera and the whole image looks white. When you are setup, take a few test shots first (even without capturing a lightning bolt) and work out how long you can leave the shutter open without ruining the photo. This is usually between 5 and 30 seconds depending on the amount of ambient light around.

Let’s say you have worked out your shutter speed is 30 seconds. The idea is to point your camera towards the lightning and keep the shutter open until you see a strike, or the 30 seconds shutter time has elapsed. Then close the shutter. I immediately start a new photo by opening the shutter once more and starting the 30 second count again." -A photographer

[–]UMustBeNewHere 0 points1 point ago

This is correct. It's easy to take hundreds of pictures and not get what you're after. Also, lightning doesn't cooperate and just strike where you want it to.

A neat trick that I like is to make a composite of multiple strikes if I'm lucky enough to get them in a short enough time frame that changes in cloud formations don't make it too difficult to do so.

[–]Datum 1 point2 points ago

I'm not a photographer as well but I think you are right. Anticipating the sound of thunder then taking a photo while shutter speed is a bit slow with more exposure entering the lens will defiantly catch the beauty.

[–]Ftumsh 10 points11 points ago

These are all the right words, but not necessarily in the right order.

[–]Datum 0 points1 point ago

Hmm. I think you are right. The question is "photography illiterate" me would put the dial on S then make the time longer. I will adjust the exposure using a little scrolling thing in the front. Please tell us about the right order.

[–]Ftumsh 2 points3 points ago

What I mean is that the words are not in the right order. I can't really make sense of what you've written. Best guess I'm trying:

Anticipating the sound of thunder* and taking a photo while the shutter speed is slow, opening the aperture wide to allow more light to enter the lens, will definitely catch the beauty.

Is that what you meant?

Anyway I'm not a photographic expert but since you can't anticipate anything where it comes to lightning, what I'd do is put it on a tripod, focus on the clouds etc., set the aperture relatively small, then just opening the shutter on "B" setting (I use a wired remote control) and leave it open for a minute or two. This has the effect of increasing the depth of field and allowing more time to pass, because less light gets in over the course of the very long exposure.

*This doesn't really mean anything, since the sound comes way later than the lightning flash.

[–]UMustBeNewHere 2 points3 points ago

Put your camera on manual. Crank your aperture to the highest number, set your iso to 100, set your shutter speed to 5 seconds, mount your camera to a tripod and preferably use a remote trigger (wired or wireless). Take a test picture and start adjusting settings. The smaller the aperture number, the more light you let in. The longer the shutter speed, the more light you let in. The higher the iso, the more light your sensor will capture.

Don't listen for thunder because that happens well after the lightning has struck.

[–]Datum 1 point2 points ago

A real photographer and gentlemen as well. Thanks for stopping all of us from discussing this topic. I'm sure you were laughing at our comments before commenting. Thank you, again.

[–]UMustBeNewHere 1 point2 points ago

Hobbyist more than anything ;) I wouldn't laugh though, was just trying to be helpful. I hope that I was.

[–]Datum 1 point2 points ago

You were. Thank you.

[–]avatar28 -1 points0 points ago

From experience, ISO 100 with a really small aperture isn't going to work well. The lightning will be too dark to really show up well and everything else will be too dark to show up unless you are in a very well lit arwa. A midrange aperture with a longer exposure is better. For instance, this was taken with ISO 100, f/9 and a 22 sec exposure.

[–]UMustBeNewHere 0 points1 point ago

yup, that's why I gave a place to start and said to test, then adjust. I didn't go look at anything until your post, but my last lightning photo was f/11, 6.3 seconds (bulb mode and remote wireless trigger), iso 800. I assume I basically did what I said above, and then tweaked settings until i got there. I'd link it, but I don't purposely give out any information on reddit that can be used to identify me.

[–]avatar28 -1 points0 points ago

Which would give about the same exposure as I had in my photo. I prefer a lower ISO and longer exposure to increases the chances of capturing a bolt.

[–]MidnightEclipse 0 points1 point ago

It's more likely you'll get these shots on extended exposure than hundreds/thousands of photos. This was very likely taken with the shutter open for several minutes as you can see the slight movement of the stars (slight diagonal). Unless you specialize in a field of photography, most of these types of shots have a lot of luck behind it so most of the time, if not always, you'll miss the shot.

[–]Datum 0 points1 point ago

I agree with you. I think it's not only luck that works as a factor but a good hunch as well. You need to anticipate the shot.

[–]poop_squared 1 point2 points ago

This is a long exposure. The shutter was most likely open for 20 seconds-1 minute. Usually you would want to keep it in the shorter range of exposure to avoid too much noise

[–]nonappropriate_reply 0 points1 point ago

Stars are too sharp to be an exposure of >30s

[–]Bennyboy1337 0 points1 point ago

Unless the guy was holding a piece of black paper infront of the lens.

[–]willcrushyou 0 points1 point ago

Not a photographer, but I do have one of those underwater disposable cameras. Not sure if that helps or not.

[–]kyleclements 1 point2 points ago

Photographer here.

The easiest way to do something like this is to set up your camera for a timelapse sequence of long-exposure shots. Lets say each shot is open for 10 seconds, then the camera waits for 1-2 seconds, then takes the next shot. This maximizes the odds of capturing a bolt of lightning.

Also helpful:

Shooting with a wide angle lens to capture more of the sky.

Shooting with a very high megapixel count camera to allow for a lot of cropping in post.

Shooting with a very low ISO to maximize dynamic range.

Shooting with a small aperture and using hyperfocal distance (rather than autofocus or pushing focus back to infinity) to maximize depth of field. (This is helped significantly by also shooting with a wide angle lens)

[–]Heathray 1 point2 points ago

My photographer friend can confirm this.

[–]Tatatee 2 points3 points ago

Everybody is a photographer.

[–]_Connor[S] -1 points0 points ago

There it is!

[–]i8wg 1 point2 points ago

Exposure and the right trigger time.

For the lazy: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Motion_Detection

(Motion detection - Trigger exposure in response to motion, fast enough to catch lightning.)

[–]shadyshad 0 points1 point ago

A lot of it is luck of the draw, just being in the right place at the right time, taking a lot of pictures and getting the lucky shot.

Some photographers use things like this: http://www.lightningtrigger.com/

Upon closer inspection, it looks like that particular photographer held his shutter open for a long time. You can see the stars look sort of elongated. There is a rule called the "rule of 600" you use when shooting night skies to avoid star trailing. It's pretty well explained here: http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/30263/what-is-the-rule-of-600-in-astrophotography

One technique that I use when shooting at night is to hold the shutter open on bulb setting, and cover the lens with a piece of foam until something pops, then I quickly remove the foam. Mostly I use that for fireworks, as we rarely have lightning where I live.

[–]Ciserus 0 points1 point ago

This would be a long exposure. You just set up the camera during a storm then hold open the shutter and hope. This could be five lightning bolts spread over a period of 10 seconds or more, all combined into one shot.

[–]Sypher03 0 points1 point ago

Various techniques for lightning shots are used. Some use black out filtration and a long exposure where you use a black card to degrade ambient light a bit but still keep the lightning sharp. Others use Burst shot with a camera with a decent SPS (shutters per second) rate set to fully automatic and hope they get lucky. Or some setup with proper lightning gear. Which is mostly a light sensor and a high tech receptor cell that gauges the light in the camera lens in like .5 of a second so as soon as it sees the lightning it will flick the shutter. Not always very accurate though, It all really comes down to luck with most lightning photos. I have done a few myself but nothing like that.

[–]lurker_becomes_lurkd -1 points0 points ago

This is a painting...

[–]Josefus 2 points3 points ago

Took me a minute to understand what I was looking at. This is fucking beautiful.

[–]Catman789 1 point2 points ago

If you look at the left side of the cloud, it looks like a man kneeling

[–]haiku_robot 0 points1 point ago

If you look at the 
left side of the cloud, it looks 
like a man kneeling

[–]Scriblon 0 points1 point ago

The last hero to hold the darkness back. The last of his kind, our last hope, our last...

[–]PileOwnz 0 points1 point ago

Ad it looks like he's kneeling before a cat.

[–]RollnRock 2 points3 points ago

stolen from james and the giant peach

[–]Spawnlesslurkers 0 points1 point ago

It's a RHINO!

[–]WholeWideWorld 1 point2 points ago

I've experienced this first hand. It was so far away you couldn't hear the thunder; just see the lightning. Awesome.

[–]drifting20 0 points1 point ago

Both of you are right. Long exposures and lots of them

[–]detrahsI 0 points1 point ago

This will make a nice background for my phone :)

[–]MT_Flesch 0 points1 point ago

if we could just harness that power....

[–]dmurray14 4 points5 points ago

Save the clock tower.

[–]ubergeek404 -1 points0 points ago

note to self: lightening goes up too.

[–]JJPaxton 0 points1 point ago

Amazing shot.

[–]rhino2348 1 point2 points ago

Lightning photos always amazing, because you can never see those like that in real life, it's frozen in time.

[–]Camplify -1 points0 points ago

Obligatory: Damn nature, you scary

[–]Lakemaster 0 points1 point ago

Please. Don't "bring me to the horizon".

[–]trufleshufles 0 points1 point ago

Am I the only one that sees Santa Claus?

[–]Mrhiddenlotus 0 points1 point ago

Beautiful.

[–]ewest 0 points1 point ago

Richard Palkul!

[–]NuclearExchange 0 points1 point ago

I see a superhero in the thumbnail. In a crouch, with one fist to the ground.

[–]Nuttyvet 0 points1 point ago

Would be both a fantastic album cover and title of an 80's metal band!

[–]echos116 0 points1 point ago

Looks like the end of Infamous 2

[–]stvno22 0 points1 point ago

Life of pi?

[–]Marshallnd 0 points1 point ago

Thar be a shit storm a'brewin.

[–]onelung 0 points1 point ago

Thor is pissed.

[–]argusromblei 1 point2 points ago

This one is pretty good too.

[–]glov 0 points1 point ago

The Unseen Horizon

[–]Slooth_Demon 0 points1 point ago

X-post to /r/earthporn

[–]amador823 0 points1 point ago

Absolutely amazing. One of the coolest pictures I've ever seen.

[–]tokimonster 0 points1 point ago

I dont think this is a photo, I think its a painting/photomanip

[–]Calvin2070 0 points1 point ago

That use to be Iraq when viewed from the New Jersey shore

[–]Povlaar 0 points1 point ago

what were you shooting on/what mode and how long did you have to wait to get the shot? :P

[–]Povlaar 0 points1 point ago

its amazing btw

[–]summatclever 0 points1 point ago

'Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.'

[–]shiner986 0 points1 point ago

r/skyporn is gonna be all over this

[–]CMBeumont 0 points1 point ago

"Zeus, is this how you face me. Coward! I am through doing the bidding of the gods, come down and face me right now." Kratos 2005

[–]naraic42 0 points1 point ago

Well, I've found my new phone wallpaper.

[–]Conhoff 0 points1 point ago

next shot was the stay puft marshmallow man.

[–]Tatatee 0 points1 point ago

So many over-romanticized creepy comments.

[–]riccoon -1 points0 points ago

Fake! Photoshopped! AHHHH!

[–]goddamnhivemind 0 points1 point ago

Awesome!

[–]fullboneralchemist 0 points1 point ago

It's the Unseen Horizon.

[–]CringeForHumanity 0 points1 point ago

Incoming game, incoming game.

[–]gilad-v 0 points1 point ago

It looks like a man sitting down for a cuppa

[–]dunus 0 points1 point ago

Is it just me read it as "heroin" ?

[–]evergr8est 0 points1 point ago

I can see ET proposing to a dragon.

[–]groov3time 0 points1 point ago

Awesome new tablet wallpaper!

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

http://www.rainymood.com/

[–]confuzedd 0 points1 point ago

It just popped my new iPod's wallpaper cherry.

[–]LightninLew 1 point2 points ago

I couldn't not do this.

[–]DJTC 0 points1 point ago

Thor, is that you?

[–]Kaighel 1 point2 points ago

Is that cloud playing the piano?

[–]GAndroid 0 points1 point ago

Looks like positive lightning, from the very top of a cloud.

Edit: Positive lightning has > 1 billion volts !!! They can also strike 60 miles away from the cloud.

Tl dr I am looking at 1 billion volts at 300000 amps.

[–]Pinkpatch1 0 points1 point ago

Sweet!

[–]d1ditforthelulz 0 points1 point ago

Makes me think of Smoke on the Water

[–]eduardvictor 0 points1 point ago

Holy CRAP that looks freaking amazing!

[–]sp1kline 0 points1 point ago

Excellent

[–]Wildebeast1 0 points1 point ago

One point twenty one gigawats!

[–]Sox888 0 points1 point ago

Looks like two people were playing chess and the one on the right got really pissed off.

[–]Muffinkingrex 0 points1 point ago

I would like a poster of this. Do any fine folk here know how I could go about that?

[–]mobyhead1 0 points1 point ago

That makes a nice iPad desktop as-is.

[–]idontlikemyname 0 points1 point ago

Screw this place in particular.

[–]Quixotic91 0 points1 point ago

Saw the title and I was like, "Oooh, new Enya song?!"

...but seriously, sweet picture.

[–]romancingthebone 0 points1 point ago

Smoke on the water, obvi. duh-DuH-DUH...

[–]QuadeCooper 0 points1 point ago

Zeus is real.

[–]psYberspRe4Dd 0 points1 point ago

There also is /r/LightningPorn

[–]Gio1153 0 points1 point ago

I see Santa Claus. Teehee.

[–]djkrugger 0 points1 point ago

I'm sorry to tell you but i'm shamelessly stealing you post title, my next song is gonna be called Lightning on the horizon.

[–]310jewel 0 points1 point ago

I love it

[–]MeGusta660 0 points1 point ago

That's pretty rare, nice!!!!!!

[–]Stonewal_Jackson 0 points1 point ago

I'm pretty sure this is in Venezuela.

[–]mr-underhill 1 point2 points ago

Curse you merciful Poseidon!

[–]Gregomyeggo 0 points1 point ago

Am I the only one around here that thinks this is a painting?

[–]Gardimus 0 points1 point ago

If I ever get killed by lightning, I hope it looks that cool.

[–]discostu16 0 points1 point ago

Dude that is TITS!!

[–]MarkMcLaughlin 0 points1 point ago

I would love to think that this is legitimate, because that is absolutely beautiful.

[–]Delge 0 points1 point ago

I have a similar image: http://i.imgur.com/rL24W.jpg

[–]RainingandPouring 0 points1 point ago

My time to hide the sunshine!!!

[–]Pruddles 0 points1 point ago

Looks like someone playing chess haha

[–]IThinkIThinkTooMuch 0 points1 point ago

What an amazing world we live in.

[–]kurunner 0 points1 point ago

"Simba..."

[–]JaM0k3 0 points1 point ago

sweetest background on my phone ever

[–]imiiiiik 0 points1 point ago

looks like the milk tank from Close Encounters

[–]supertalldavej 0 points1 point ago

Thanks for the background!!

[–]Banana_Jello 0 points1 point ago

Beware the sea witch!

[–]th3whiterhino 0 points1 point ago

this is from the life of pi you dingus

[–]ninjagummybear 0 points1 point ago

Aaw a proposal :)

[–]eck226 0 points1 point ago

Got SUUUUPER stoned one night at the beach and watched an awesome off shore lightening storm for over an hour. So awesome.

[–]snowglobe13579 0 points1 point ago

Does anyone else see Santa playing a piano? 0.0

[–]scotchycaldwell 0 points1 point ago

Day vs night

[–]Matt24654 0 points1 point ago

I thank you goodman for my iPads new background.

[–]taranchoola31 0 points1 point ago

Is it just me or do the clouds look like someone in formal clothes playing piano

[–]redditer99 0 points1 point ago

REPOST!!!

[–]yeahsurewhynot 2 points3 points ago

Yes thank you how are we the only two to notice this?

[–]sjhill 0 points1 point ago

Check the rest of OP's submissions. He's another systematic reposter.

[–]FourCounters -1 points0 points ago

What a great picture.

[–]Literal_LOL 0 points1 point ago

Man you should crosspost this to /r/SkyPorn :)

[–]Jimmy__Rustle -1 points0 points ago

What about this?

[–]bpeach -3 points-2 points ago

Just wait for all the god is almighty comments...

[–]Journalisto 4 points5 points ago

I'm more worried about the "shockingly" bad pun threads.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]WolfgangSho 1 point2 points ago

Good man, stay grounded.

[–]Reillos 0 points1 point ago

HALT

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]_Connor[S] -2 points-1 points ago

Don't click the link guys, It leads to a bunch of Pornographic images.

[–]Camplify 3 points4 points ago

Good guy op, checks all of the links himself/herself.

[–]MrSippi 0 points1 point ago

Curiosity got the best of me. He's right, there are wieners and titties everywhere. The horror. THE HORROR!