I snapped these at work during one of the many storms that came thru Buckhead the past few weeks. I did not realize until now that I actually captured a positive streamer and a lightning strike. I was using a Canon Sureshot digital I didn't think the shutter opening speed would be fast enough.

http://www.presnellguideservice.com/bfmstreamer.jpg :eek:

http://www.presnellguideservice.com/bmflight.jpg :wow

Wow dude. I thought capturing lightning on a normal camera was like impossible. Nice pics.

Verrrrrry nice. some lucky timing too.

Carter

Photoshop. :eyecrazy

Awesome picture, very nice

I think it is P-shoped.. you can see how the lightning is identical in its pattern... Just one is a little more compressed than the other.. :confused

I think it is P-shoped.. you can see how the lightning is identical in its pattern... Just one is a little more compressed than the other.. :confused

The images were downloaded from the camera into Photoshop that is the software we use at work for our collision photos. I did brighten the positive streamer pic to bring out the streamer, it was so faint that it blended in with the dark colors, if I would have left it the original brightness, you wouldn't have known what the hell you were looking at, but that was the only enhancement. That particular storm had constant lightning so I just started snapping pic's as fast as the camera (and a HiSpeed CF card) would allow, out of 150+ pic's these were the only one's with anything captured, the rest were all black with that dam billboard in the middle (Got Milk?) and an occasional post strike purple cloud.

There certainly is a consistent shape between the "two" bolts, but there's another possible explanation for that. It could be just one bolt, but caught as it began to form on one shot, then seen at its highest intensity in the next.

I found this info online the bolt seen in both pic's is a positive streamer and they extend out and wait for a opposite type charge to connect and they can last for ?? Read below.

Positive Streamers (http://science.howstuffworks.com/lightning5.htm)
Before we get ahead of ourselves, we have to consider what is happening with the surface of the earth and objects on the surface. As the step leaders approach the earth, objects on the surface begin responding to the strong electric field. The objects reach out to the cloud by "growing" positive streamers. These streamers also have a purplish color and appear to be more prominent on sharp edges. The human body can and does produce these positive streamers when subjected to a strong electric field as that of a storm cloud. In actuality, anything on the surface of the earth has the potential to send a streamer. Once produced, the streamers do not continue to grow toward the clouds; bridging the gap is the job of the step leaders as they stage their way down. The streamers wait patiently, stretching upward as the step leaders approach.
Next to occur is the actual meeting of a step leader and a streamer. As discussed earlier, the streamer that the step leader reaches is not necessarily the closest streamer to the cloud. It's very common for lightning to strike the ground even though there is a tree or a light pole or any other tall object in the vicinity. The fact that the step leader does not take the path of a straight line allows for this to occur.

After the step leader and the streamer meet, the ionized air (plasma) has completed its journey to the earth, leaving a conductive path from the cloud to the earth. With this path complete, current flows between the earth and the cloud. This discharge of current is nature's way of trying to neutralize the charge separation. The flash we see when this discharge occurs is not the strike -- it is the local effects of the strike.

I think it is P-shoped.. you can see how the lightning is identical in its pattern... Just one is a little more compressed than the other.. :confused

They're pics of the same lightning strike in different phases of its "life" - that's why they look so similar.

That's also why a lightning strike appears to flash a few times if you're looking directly at it - you'll see the streamer, the bolt, then your eye is usually saturated from the light so you see an afterimage for a second or so.