The other night I was driving home and there happened to be a storm brewing not too far away. I had my camera with me as I do a great part of the time and decided I would try to get a nice photograph of lightning. I have photographed lightning in the past and make sure that I am as safe as possible when doing so. I stopped on the side of the highway and set up my tripod and camera to get some pictures. The place I stopped at I could see a few strikes every now and again so I took a few shots and got... barely lit up clouds, yay. I noticed that there was a hill in front of me but I could still see strikes. I didn't want to get inside the storm or have to deal with rain so I waited a little bit and watched the storm and saw it didn't seem to really be moving much. I tried a few more times and got nowhere. 

Previous Pictures of Lightning

What I got that night...

At this point I figured I would try my luck by going to the top of the hill, see if one, there was a safe place to pull over to get some nice shots and two, if up there I was still outside of the storm. As my luck would have it there wasn't a great place to pull over and when there was trees were blocking the majority of my view. I drove a bit further and just I was getting out of the trees, rain. Well great. So now I am thinking that I will continue past the rain and when the rain stops see what the skies look like and if there is a safe place to pull over. I find a great place to pull over and see that there is lightning ahead of and behind me but not too close on either end. 

I pull over and watch the skies for a bit with nothing to great happening. The lightning seems to either be moving away or slowing down or both at this point. I decide to continue home at this point keeping aware of what is happening as far as lightning and seeing if maybe I'll get lucky and it will start up again somewhat near me. Alas, I get home empty handed. 

Will this night keep from trying again, absolutely not. Was it frustrating having what I could picture in my head as some amazing photos just fizzle away, absolutely. But just like a bad day fishing, you can't let that keep you from trying again. For some types of photography you have to wait and wait and still might not get the shot you want and will have to head out again when the timing is right. I love snapping pictures of animals, nature and weather and have several times gone home with either nothing or as good as nothing. 

Learn from your mistakes and failures. Reflect back on them and then in your head look at different ways you could have approached that situation and try to perceive what that outcome might have been like. For instance, that night with the failed lighting photos, if I had taken a different road, I might have had some spectacular shots. Or, had I waited another half hour to an hour the storm might have moved in a way that gave me a different angle. Who knows? I could have also timed my shots better to capture the lightning I did see. 

On a positive note, I did enjoy the fresh air and the cool night. I enjoyed watching the lightning I did see, so not all was a waste. I can still find that silver lining and not completely feel bad about the situation. 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope this helps some of those that have had similar disappointments when trying to shoot something that is hard to get. 

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