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Category: Lightning

Power on Display

Power on Display lightning photography by Dan Bourque

A magnificent lightning bolt lights up the night sky above Colorado Springs.

Details: few things are a more irresistible subject for photography for me than an active thunderstorm at night. This particular storm was amazing with flashes going off inside the storm every several seconds. Only a small fraction of the bolts exited the storm, so I was fortunate to be able to grab this shot. If you’re going to try this at home, remember basic lightning safety, especially if the storm is headed in your direction.

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Midnight Storm Approaching

Midnight Storm Approaching landscape photo by Dan Bourque

A thunderstorm builds at midnight over blooming yuccas in central Colorado.

Details: I love night photography, and thunderstorms are some of my favorite subjects. This storm was amazing, flashing with lightning about once a second, but very few broke out of the clouds, so I was fortunate to capture this bolt. A full moon behind me lit up the clouds above the storm and the blowing prairie in front of me.

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Lightning and the Elephant

Lightning and the Elephant landscape lightning photo by Dan BourqueLightning bursts over Elephant Rock at night in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Details: Valley of Fire, northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, is one of the neatest State Parks I’ve ever been to–it’s chock full of red sandstone formations and arches like aptly named Elephant Rock seen here. I came to this spot hoping for some good Milky Way shots, but an unexpected evening storm made an even more amazing backdrop for this cool scene. This image took nearly an hour of patient shooting of long exposures to get the dramatic bolt seen here. Because the night was pitch black in-between strikes, I used a technique called “light painting” to capture the detail of the rock formation–it’s a manual process and tedious when you’re taking dozens of long-exposure shots, but in this case it was well worth it!

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Valley of Fire and Lightning

Valley of Fire and Lightning landscape photo by Dan BourqueA lightning bolt adds powerful color to the sunset over Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

Details: Shooting lightning is an exercise in both speed and patience, but the results can be very rewarding. Because of the low light, I was able to take long exposures and hope for a good strike. There were many failures before this success! Believe it or not, there is very little color manipulation in the image–the lightning was indeed pink which made it a perfect compliment to the sunset! This scene was captured on a July evening at Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park near Lake Mead.

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Lightning Strike on the Peak at Sunset

Lightning Strike on the Peak at Sunset

A bolt of lightning strikes the shoulder of Pikes Peak from purple clouds trying to extinguish the orange glow of sunset over Garden of the Gods.

Details: lightning bolts are difficult to capture, but this one near Colorado Springs cooperated nicely against the sunset just peeking in under the storm. Pikes Peak in its purple glory is clearly seen from the Garden of the Gods where this was taken. I got soaked on the hike back to my car, but it was worth it! This HDR image combines three different exposures of the same scene to capture and preserve shadow and highlight detail.

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  • All images and graphics are the property of the photographer and should not be used without permission. All Images copyright Dan Bourque