Lightning occurs very fast. Before we can react to snap, the lightning is over. To me, taking photo of lightning bolt was like a gamble. We have to snap before the lightning strike.

I had attempted to take photos of the lightning before on a stormy night, but without any success. I remembered very clearly, that evening, I saw a lot of lightning flash. But I could not tell the actual direction where the lightning was occurring.

I could only point my camera in a general direction which I believe was the lightning storm. It was a fruitless attempt.

Few evening ago, it was another thunder storm. This time, I could see the lightning bolt with my naked eyes. I quickly set up my tripod and camera with my quick release control.

I was not sure what setting to use. I used Tv mode to check the aperture to use. From there, I switched to full manual mode, using the setting previously found with a -2 Ev. I also set the camera to continuously shooting. I used the quick release to lock the shooting. That means that I would continuously shooting photos.

It was quite fortunate that the lightning was quite often that evening. This allowed me to change my setting along the way. I found the exposure of 4 sec, aperture of f/9.0 and ISO 400 gave me the best effect. Or maybe, it was because I was not so lucky when I was trying other settings.

Anyway, out of over 130 photos, I managed to get some nice photos. I am wondering, how people take photos of lightning in the days of using film.

These are the better ones of the lightning photos.

I took my camera and my furthest telezoom lens to somewhere I would not be disturbed and I could get a clear view of the moon. I did not attempt to look for a dark place because I am living in a city. Almost anywhere is surrounded by city light.

I was using the Canon DEOS 400D with Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens.

Initially, I used P-mode for my shots. No matter how I tried, the moon appeared too bright, with all the features missing. Then I switched to Manual Mode.

After many attempts, I think I managed to find the optimal range of setting to take the photo of the moon – 300mm f/45 (the max available) 0.6s ISO 100. We may need to adjust the timing up or down a few steps for best result at different environment.

The photo of the moon

Photo of the Moon (100% crop) (Click to view full)

As seen in the pictures, at 300mm, the moon is very small. Maybe, in my next attempt, I will try to get a 2x Extender to fill the moon in the frame.

Nowadays, most people own a digital point and shoot camera? Can these camera capable of taking good, beautiful fireworks photos? Especially those with trailing lights?

I had shot many fireworks with Point and Shoot Cameras before I bought my DSLR Canon EOS 400D. Let see how the effect come out. (please on the picture for larger version.)

My very first digital camera was Olympus C200 Zoom. I did not know much about camera then. This camera did not offer me much control. My best setting was automatic night shoot.

Taken using Olympus C200 Zoom Camera in 2004

Years later, I thought I need a better camera, one with higher megapixels. So I bought the Canon Powershot A95. This camera provided me with full control over the setting. But I did not make full use of these setting.

Taken using Canon Powershot A95, P Mode.

Soon, I learnt some techniques to shoot fireworks. Fortunately, there was the fireworks festival for me to try out these techniques. I was surprised by the effects, especially the trailing lights.

Taken using Canon Powershot A95, Manual Mode

After I got my EOS 400D, I hardly use any Point and Shoot Camera for some time. But I still get a Point and Shoot Camera as a carry around camera. Recently, I decided to try out this point and shoot camera’s capability to shoot fireworks.

Taken using Canon Powershot A470 using SCN-Fireworks Mode

This camera does not provide much manual control. It has special scenes function. The fireworks functions works well. The reason why the fireworks was so small was because I was too far away. And I was operating another camera, (see my earlier post.)

In conclusion, Point and Shoot Cameras are capable of shooting fireworks with trailing light. The important items are, we need a tripod (or some good support) and the right setting. The setback is that, the zoom is not as fast as with DSLR Zoom lens.