Topic: Safety versus photography!

[Mike]

Don't you just hate it when ones inbuilt desire for staying alive overcomes the desire to stick around and take shots!?

I've just been out chasing here and sometimes you wish you had a rubber suit on.

After viewing the forum I logged onto the radar at BoM and there was a nice group of cells coming in - not overly large, but nice enough - they were about 40km away so i waited a tad and read the forum - after initial computer blackouts i realised the thing was here - so in the car i go.  Just around the corner from where i live is a nice spot with clear views.

There was a nice front approaching and heaps of CGs in the background fast approaching.  Unfortunately above me was constant strobing from intra-cloud activity and anvil crawlers - now what to do?  I know that sitting under the leading edge of an anvil -although not fully mature - is a no, no.  There's rumbles all around and there not from the CGs - it's from above me!

So after packing up and heading north about 5 km to get some shots, the storm was still over the top of me.  I hate that.  Safety comes into the mind and so I headed into town.  By the time i got there 15 minutes later the thing had just about petered out.  So i here i am.  I guess the moral of this little ditty is that SAFETY does come first and that the camera can shoot another day....albeit missing out on some great single strikes every three seconds.  I really do hate that!

Mike

[Jeff Brislane]

Each to their own I say. If you're silly enough to stand out in the open and take photos with lightning imminent than good luck to you. I myself am known to take a few risks when shooting photos but I think that in a lot of dangerous situations I get back in the car but sometimes I don't. I have shot photos with lightning striking all around me but between pressing the shutter I assumed the crouched position as low to the ground as I could get.

But I would never recommend anyone else did it and I would never encourage it either. And btw the rubber suit would not save you. It would have to be over a meter thick to insulate you from a lightning strike.

Jeff.

[enak_12]

Ah yes I understand where your coming from Mike, I'm pretty wimpy when it comes to lighting but there are ways around it. I sit in the car with the window facing in the direction of the lightning with the camera outside the window on a tripod close to the door. I also use a remote cable which I can use to operate the camera from inside the car with the window down a bit. They say the safest place outside from lightning is in the car. There is still risk of being killed by lightning even in the car so do this at your own risk, but its got to be safer then standing out in the open with a tripod. Also apparently you can get clamp mount tripod for the car. I think they have a suction cap that holds tripod and the you can swivel it around to face out side the window.

Kane.

[Mike]

Yes, and I was not serious re the rubber suit by the way!   i think it was obvious that i didn't stick around too long.

Factually speaking, it really doesn't matter where you are - if your'e going to get hit by lightning you won't know about it until after it happens - three people in our local area working on a school extension got hit by a CG last week - and on sunday just gone, 4 Feb 07, a family's home got struck.  The CG hit outside their rear door and also struck a tree in their yard.  The powerbox got blown off the wall, all the power outlets inside the house got fried and smoking, a half metre shard of wood from the imploding tree lodged through the security screen at the rear door penetrating the door and there's a a 3 cm divet in the concrete outside the near the metre box! (can't post the photos, you'll have to visit the NT News website for them, sorry)

Mike