Lightning Photography – Chris Kotsiopoulos Photography

Lightning Photography

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Ikaria island lightning

Fire in the sky! This is a photo sequence containing 70 lightning, taken at Ikaria island. Read more...

The severe thunderstorm took place the night of the total lunar eclipse at June 15, 2011. In order to make the sequence, I set the camera to a tripod taking 20 second shots continuously. After 83 minutes I ended up with approximately 90 lightning shots. I had to exclude around 20 because the photo condensed so much that didn't look nice. Also, in many shots I have captured more than one lightning. I believe that the number of actual lightning captured that night is more than 100.

Canon EOS 550D, 16/6/2011 1:17 - 2:40, Shutter Speed 20 sec x 70 shots, Aperture Value 7.1, ISO 400, Lens Canon EF50mm f/1.8 II, Focal Length 50.0 mm

Φωτιά στον ουρανό! Η εικόνα αποτελείται από 70 λήψεις κατά την διάρκεια σφοδρής καταιγίδας στο Πέζι Ικαρίας.

Lunar eclipse lightning

After months of anticipation and exhausting preparations and planning for taking photos of the total lunar eclipse, everything went wrong... Read more...

... due to a severe thunderstorm during the phenomenon. Everything? Well...fortunatelly no, because for approximately 10 minutes in the middle of totality, a small window in the sky allowed me to see the Moon in the Earth's shadow and shoot this unbelievable photo. The shot was taken from Ikaria island at Pezi, an area known as "the planet of the goats", because of the rough terrain with the strange looking rocks.

Canon EOS 550D, 15/6/2011 23:05 (UT +2), Shutter Speed 28 sec, Aperture Value 4.0, ISO 400, Lens Canon EF15mm f/2.8 Fisheye, Focal Length 15.0 mm

Μετά από μήνες αναμονής και εντατικής προετοιμασίας για την φωτογράφηση της Σεληνιακής έκλειψης, όλα πήγαν στραβά εξαιτίας μιας σφοδρής καταιγίδας κατά την διάρκεια του φαινομένου. Όλα? Όχι ακριβώς, καθώς ένα μικρό άνοιγμα στα σύννεφα που κράτησε 10 περίπου λεπτά, στην μέση της ολικότητας μου επέτρεψε να δω και να φωτογραφήσω ένα πραγματικά απίστευτο θέαμα! Αστραπές από την μια πλευρά, η ολική έκλειψη από την άλλη και εγώ στην μέση, πότε να τρέχω για να βρω την κατάλληλη γωνία λήψης και πότε να κοντοστέκομαι και να θαυμάζω το μεγαλείο της φύσης στο αποκορύφωμα του! Η λήψη έγινε στο Πέζι Ικαρίας, ένα μέρος γνωστό και σαν 'ο πλανήτης των κατσικιών', λόγω του βραχώδους τοπίου και των περίεργων σχημάτων των βράχων.

Windmill lightning

Lightning and windmill at Kos island, Greece. Read more...

Kos island 100 lightning

This is my personal record of lightnings captured in one frame! Read more...

This image is a stack of 77 photos chosen out of 100 captured in total as they appear at this timelapse video. The shots were taken at Kos island, Greece during an intense thunderstorm.

Camera Model Canon EOS 550D, Shooting Date/Time 14/11/2013 10:40 - 15/11/2013 02:17, Author Chris Kotsiopoulos Shutter Speed 20 sec x 77 shots (out of 100), Aperture Value 5.6, ISO 100, Lens Canon EF28mm f/1.8 USM, Focal Length 28.0 mm

Fire in the sky

Lightning and stars. The straight lines to the right are from a moving boat. Read more...

Lightning over Athens

Super lightning above Athens, Greece. Read more...

Note the direction of the lightning streams. Some fall behind Imitos mountain while other start from the clouds and return to the clouds forming some loops. At least two of them seem to span from the south to the extreme north regions of the city covering horizontally a distance of approximately 20 kilometers.

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi, 7/9/2009 00:10, Shutter Speed 20, Aperture Value 5.6, ISO 100, Lens EF28mm f/1.8 USM, Focal Length 28.0 mm

Ενας εντυπωσιακός κεραυνός πάνω από την Αθήνα, όπως τον αποτύπωσε ο φακός από το σπίτι μου στο Χαλάνδρι. Προσέξτε την κατεύθυνση που έχουν οι στήλες του. Κάποιες πέφτουν πίσω από τον Υμηττό ενώ άλλες ξεκινούν από τα σύννεφα και καταλήγουν πάλι στα σύννεφα σε σχήμα θηλιάς. Τουλάχιστον δύο ξεκινούν από τις νότιες περιοχές του λεκανοπεδίου και φτάνουν μέχρι τα βόρεια, καλύπτοντας μια απόσταση περίπου 20 χιλιομέτρων.

Man vs lightning

This is a photo sequence of 42 stacked shots, in Olympic Stadium, Athens during a severe thunderstorm. Read more...

It only took me approximately 30 minutes to capture 51 lightnings. Nine shots were destroyed because of the excess brightness. See also the water drops from the drain pipe. They seem 'still' as they instantly illuminated from the lightnings. This was by far the most intense lightning storm that I have ever seen. I could count at least one lightning every 10 seconds. The answer to the crucial question: No... The big one didn't hit me on the head! It stroke a few hundred feet in front of me.

Canon EOS 550D, 28/6/2010 1:16 - 1:48, Shutter Speed 3.2 sec x 42 shots, Aperture Value 4.0, ISO 100, Lens Canon EF 15mm f/2.8, Focal Length 15.0 mm

Επιπρόσθεση 42 φωτογραφιών. Οι λήψεις έγιναν στο Ολυμπιακό στάδιο κατά την διάρκεια σφοδρής καταιγίδας. Χρειάσθηκα μόλις 30 περίπου λεπτά για να πιάσω 51 κεραυνούς. Εννέα λήψεις καταστράφηκαν από την πολύ δυνατή λάμψη των κεραυνών. Δείτε επίσης τις σταγόνες της υδρορροής. Έχουν 'παγώσει' από το στιγμιαίο φλας των κεραυνών. Η απάντηση στο εύγλωττο ερώτημα: Όχι... δεν έφαγα στο κεφάλι τον μεγάλο κεραυνό! Έπεσε μακριά σε απόσταση εκατοντάδων μέτρων.

Red and blue lightning

I thought that the lightning colors we see in the pictures were the result of post processing or the camera settings. Read more...

At this image I noticed something strange. This is a stack of approximately 10 photos taken at the exact same settings and color balance during an intense thunderstorm in Kos island, Greece. The colors of the lightnings, although exaggerated in post processing, are the real colors. Half of the lightnings produced a blue glare and the other half were red. According to ask.com: Lighting takes on a range of colors depending on the conditions that are in the clouds and in the air. The blue lightning shows the presence of hail while the red one indicates the presence of rain. Most often it will appear white as it travels through the air, but can appear orange or red when off in the distance. This is due to particles of dust, haze, and moisture in the air that diffuses the color it appears to be. As this was a fast approaching thunderstorm, perhaps the most distant lightnings emitted a reddish color and as the storm approached turned to blue or maybe this picture indicates a large area with hail and rain alternations.

Camera Model Canon EOS 550D, Shooting Date/Time 14/11/2013 20:55 – aprox. 21:07, Author Chris Kotsiopoulos, 20 sec x aprox. 10 shots (out of 42), Aperture Value 5.6, ISO 100, Lens Canon EF28mm f/1.8 USM, Focal Length 28.0 mm