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Lightning : A great adventure for your drone.

Phantomrain.org

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As more people take to the skies to capture what can only be described as the Adventure of a Lightning Capture, here are some great tips.

Rely on the Auto Setting to get some incredible shots. I posted some shots below that cover all the different types of light the drones auto setting can navigate around. You will be amazed by the quality of a 4K shot and the abundance of them on the timeline waiting for export.

The are two facets you can really focus on that will help capture something really award-winning:

  • The first thing is to focus on framing your shot as to where you want the lightning to go and then wait for it to fall into your frame.
  • There are two types of lightning shots: one with houses, buildings, and towers in the picture and one with just the sky.

The pictures with something in it other than the sky are going to trigger a much better picture of the adventure. This is why you should focus on framing your shot first.


Take a look at these pictures below that have been exported from the Video Time Line in 4K 60 frames and how the Auto Setting composed each different type of light source.

Around 8 PM so it's darker than it appears outside.

lighitng  100.jpg


Another shot at 8PM

DSFGSDFGFDSG 17.jpg


This was shot during a Tornado warning around 9 pm pitch black outside almost no light from a distance.
lightSDAFASDFSD 15.jpg

With 60 Frames you can really capture the Depth of what it taking place.
adsfasdfasdfasd.jpg


This was shot with the Moon Light

SDFGSDFGSDFGDSFG.jpg

This was shot with City streetlights

adfasdfasd.jpg

Another shot that was framed waiting for the lightning using the Tower in Pitch Black light. Notice these are not typically the best quality however they can surprise you.


ligddddfeddfdddfhting 24.jpg

dcxzvczxcvzxcv.jpg

This was an easy frame as the plane came into the storm and it was pouring down. I captured some 1oo shots of the planes coming in that day, each cloud formation was so different with the lightning in the background.

dsafasddfsadfsasdf.jpg

Pitch Black skies with only these tiny strikes in the sky opening these Portals into the clouds was incredible .

adsfsadfasdfasdfasdfdsfadsda.jpg

Here is another very Rare bird called Loop Lightning, its incredible as you cannot even see it with the naked eye and you can only capture it in a frame as it happens so fast, many times you might think you captured nothing of the flash of light until you go thru the timeline an find these small gems.

adsfsadfasdfasdfsadfasdf.jpg

Even lightning miles away can make for an interesting capture for your collection, here you can see the city of Cleveland under a blanket of clouds with some heavy lightning. With some editing, you can lighten the picture to show more detail, but these are the Natural frames from the video timeline.

dadsafdsaadfssdfsadfsadfssad.jpg


Another Rare picture is when you capture your drone in the sky with the lightning as I fly directly into the storm.


asdfsadsfasdfasdfasfdsadfsadfdasdf.jpg

One thing to note is that you will find a lot of Purple and blue and Green when taking lightning shots , this is not edited in but the natural of beauty of these skies.

Ohio gets a lot of Tornados we already have had 7 this year all within a months, when the skies go Green,it is best to take some shelter.

Keep in mind that all these shots were taken while it was raining pretty hard and yet the Camera on the Drone cuts right thu the Rain /

Below is an example of a Framed shot where if Lightning could have entered the Frame would have been an award-winning shot.

Sadly I did not get the Lightning strike I was looking for,. but because it was framed so nice it came out beautiful anyway.

View attachment DJI_202307FSGFDSFGDDSGDS03070544_0055_D (1).jpg


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your drone in the Rain and capture the Adventure of the sky.
 
Last edited:
As more people take to the skies to capture what can only be described as the Adventure of a Lightning Capture, here are some great tips.

Rely on the Auto Setting to get some incredible shots. I posted some shots below that cover all the different types of light the drones auto setting can navigate around. You will be amazed by the quality of a 4K shot and the abundance of them on the timeline waiting for export.

The are two facets you can really focus on that will help capture something really award-winning:

  • The first thing is to focus on framing your shot as to where you want the lightning to go and then wait for it to fall into your frame.
  • There are two types of lightning shots: one with houses, buildings, and towers in the picture and one with just the sky.

The pictures with something in it other than the sky are going to trigger a much better picture of the adventure. This is why you should focus on framing your shot first.


Take a look at these pictures below that have been exported from the Video Time Line in 4K 60 frames and how the Auto Setting composed each different type of light source.

Around 8 PM so it's darker than it appears outside.

View attachment 173718


Another shot at 8PM

View attachment 173719


This was shot during a Tornado warning around 9 pm pitch black outside almost no light from a distance.
View attachment 173720

With 60 Frames you can really capture the Depth of what it taking place.
View attachment 173723


This was shot with the Moon Light

View attachment 173721

This was shot with City streetlights

View attachment 173717

Another shot that was framed waiting for the lightning using the Tower in Pitch Black light. Notice these are not typically the best quality however they can surprise you.


View attachment 173727

View attachment 173726

This was an easy frame as the plan came into the storm and it was pouring down. I captured some 1oo shots of the planes coming in that day , each cloud formation was so differnet with the lightning in the back ground.

View attachment 173728

Pitch Black skies with only these tiny strikes in the sky opening these Portals into the clouds was incredible .

View attachment 173730

Here is another very Rare bird called Loop Lightning , its incredible as you cannot even see it with the naked eye and you can only capture it in a frame as it happens so fast , many times you might think you captured nothing of the flash of light until you go thru the time line an find these small gems.

View attachment 173731

Even lightning miles away can make for a interesting capture for your collection , here you can see the city of Cleveland under a blanket of coulds with some heavy lightning . With some editing you can really lighten the picure to show more detail, but these are the Natural frames from the video timeline.

View attachment 173732


Another Rare picture is when you capture your drone in the sky with the lightning as I fly directly into the storm .


View attachment 173733

One thing to note is that you will find a lot of Purple and blue and Green when taking lightning shots , this is not edited in but the Natual of beauty of these skies.

Ohio gets a lot of Tornados we already have had 7 this year all within a months span , when the skies go Green ,it is best to take some shelter.

Keep in mind that all these shots were taken while it was raining pretty hard and yet the Camera on the Drone cuts right thu the Rain /

This is an example of a Framed shot where if Lightning could have entered the Frame would have been an award-winning shot.

I think you can see why. You can see the Rain wall and it was pouring rain as I just needed that bolt of lightning to take place but I did not get it.

I find that capturing lightning is a lot like fishing, they are very similar.

View attachment 173722


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your drone in the Rain, Capture the Adventure of the sky.
I recall many yrs ago, my dad came to visit. he said "wow really weird, as I was leaving the sky was green"

I asked "did you listen to the radio?"

he said "no, why?"

I told him a a tornado had hit the town, about half hr after he left.
 
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As more people take to the skies to capture what can only be described as the Adventure of a Lightning Capture, here are some great tips.

Rely on the Auto Setting to get some incredible shots. I posted some shots below that cover all the different types of light the drones auto setting can navigate around. You will be amazed by the quality of a 4K shot and the abundance of them on the timeline waiting for export.

The are two facets you can really focus on that will help capture something really award-winning:

  • The first thing is to focus on framing your shot as to where you want the lightning to go and then wait for it to fall into your frame.
  • There are two types of lightning shots: one with houses, buildings, and towers in the picture and one with just the sky.

The pictures with something in it other than the sky are going to trigger a much better picture of the adventure. This is why you should focus on framing your shot first.


Take a look at these pictures below that have been exported from the Video Time Line in 4K 60 frames and how the Auto Setting composed each different type of light source.

Around 8 PM so it's darker than it appears outside.

View attachment 173718


Another shot at 8PM

View attachment 173719


This was shot during a Tornado warning around 9 pm pitch black outside almost no light from a distance.
View attachment 173720

With 60 Frames you can really capture the Depth of what it taking place.
View attachment 173723


This was shot with the Moon Light

View attachment 173721

This was shot with City streetlights

View attachment 173717

Another shot that was framed waiting for the lightning using the Tower in Pitch Black light. Notice these are not typically the best quality however they can surprise you.


View attachment 173727

View attachment 173726

This was an easy frame as the plan came into the storm and it was pouring down. I captured some 1oo shots of the planes coming in that day , each cloud formation was so differnet with the lightning in the back ground.

View attachment 173728

Pitch Black skies with only these tiny strikes in the sky opening these Portals into the clouds was incredible .

View attachment 173730

Here is another very Rare bird called Loop Lightning , its incredible as you cannot even see it with the naked eye and you can only capture it in a frame as it happens so fast , many times you might think you captured nothing of the flash of light until you go thru the time line an find these small gems.

View attachment 173731

Even lightning miles away can make for a interesting capture for your collection , here you can see the city of Cleveland under a blanket of coulds with some heavy lightning . With some editing you can really lighten the picure to show more detail, but these are the Natural frames from the video timeline.

View attachment 173732


Another Rare picture is when you capture your drone in the sky with the lightning as I fly directly into the storm .


View attachment 173733

One thing to note is that you will find a lot of Purple and blue and Green when taking lightning shots , this is not edited in but the Natual of beauty of these skies.

Ohio gets a lot of Tornados we already have had 7 this year all within a months span , when the skies go Green ,it is best to take some shelter.

Keep in mind that all these shots were taken while it was raining pretty hard and yet the Camera on the Drone cuts right thu the Rain /

This is an example of a Framed shot where if Lightning could have entered the Frame would have been an award-winning shot.

I think you can see why. You can see the Rain wall and it was pouring rain as I just needed that bolt of lightning to take place but I did not get it.

I find that capturing lightning is a lot like fishing, they are very similar.

View attachment 173722


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your drone in the Rain, Capture the Adventure of the sky.
Outstanding!! What drone were you using?

If all these were shot while the drone was in a pouring rain you’ve certainly got a great plug for your rain gear.

How did your drone behave in the pounding it must have received from the rain?
 
Very, very impressive! I like to see God’s handiwork on display. I could do without the damaging tornadoes though.
Thor does get angry at times!
 
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Outstanding!! What drone were you using?

If all these were shot while the drone was in a pouring rain you’ve certainly got a great plug for your rain gear.

How did your drone behave in the pounding it must have received from the rain?
The Air 2s / Air 3 / Mavic 3 / have been the most recent.

The drones dont even acknowledge the pounding of the rain as the Neoprene Cover has a nice soft feel to it so any pounding gets absorbed so that its not noticeable to the drone at all.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the Water, and Capture a UFO one day.
 
The Air 2s / Air 3 / Mavic 3 / have been the most recent.

The drones dont even acknowledge the pounding of the rain as the Neoprene Cover has a nice soft feel to it so any pounding gets absorbed so that its not noticeable to the drone at all.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the Water, and Capture a UFO one day.
Are you mostly doing this with 4K video, 60FPS, Full Auto exposure settings? Or is anything locked down (exposure wise...). Also if with Mavic 3 are you using NightMode?
 
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Yes on all topics, however I have not used the Night Mode with the Lightning strikes yet.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.
 
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