tmhutchins

I exposed the pic as if there were city lights on the foreground. This is because the storm was about to get to the city just to the right of frame. I always forget to change the exposure for city lights and therefore the lightning sometimes doesn't stand out the way I like it. Because of that if there are city lights nearby I set my 7D to Program function 1 which is the best exposure for lightning if there are city lights nearby. Also, the Black & White conversion could have been better!! Thanks for your comment.

Tim H

Awhile ago I took this photo of lightning over Darwin Harbour in

Australia and I tried to convert it to Black & White using Photoshop.

This was one of the better storms I have seen in the Top End with up

to 200 lightning strikes every minute, constant lightning!! This went

on for hours making for an interesting photo shoot but a difficult

one. Given the brightness of the lightning exposure was hard.

Tim H

Form a hill just out of Darwin we have a 360 degree view of the

storms as they develop. Notice the defined Pilius at the top of the

cloud. This is a sure indicator that it is about to become a storm.

Tim H

Another day out storm chasing and another stinking hot day. This

phot gives a good example of the explosive power of the storms

around here. This one is in growth stage.

Tim H

As close as possible. Some of the other photos I've posted give an example but tonight could be even better. We will attempt to drive through the core of one!!

Tim H

At this stage the storm was moving closer and dumping plenty of rain

as if became mostly outflow dominant. Notice the lightning present in

the rain shaft. Photos 1 - 4 are typical of the birth to death of a

Darwin storm.

Tim H

Here you can see the awesome power of the storms updrafts and good

typical structure. The cell went to a maximum height of around 20kms

and produced an overshooting top.

Tim H

A closer view of the storm cell as it crashes into the decaying anvil

of a storm to its west. A severe storm warning was issued at this

stage.

Tim H

Yesterday was really hot so I decided to try a storm chase with a

couple of friends. Leaving town we noticed an excellent speciman so

the chase was on!! This is a typical Darwin pulse storm and at this

stage was producing around 750 lightning strikes per minute.

Tim H

The storm season for us in Darwin Australia is about to begin again.

The heat is unbearable but the storms at the end of the day make the

discomfort worth while. They will gradually get more and more severe

until the monsoon arives. Here is one of the first storms of the

season.

Tim H

Here's a photo of the sunset here tonight in Darwin Australia, I hope

the sun sets like this in your country tonight. Hope you like it,

comments very welcome!!

Tim H

I generally like photographing landscapes but because I'm waiting

for the storms to arrive I decided to test my new lens (Minolta 70-

210 f4) on some flowers. I love this lens now and wouldn't leave

home without it. My flower photos are probably average but I can't

help but enjoy this lens for ease of use. Hope you enjoy the photo.

Tim H

Here's another photo from my trip to the Botanical Gardens today.

Tim H

I was told that the last entry lacked sharpening so here's the

sharpened version. As you can see I'm a photoshop beginner!!

Tim H

I went out again today to find tree frogs and they were quite easy to

find. This little one must have liked to green of the bamboo because

he wouldn't move even with the camera flashing away. I used my Minolta

50mm f1.7 lens for this shot set at the closest focus distance @ f2.0.

Tim H

Here's the last green tree frogs brother. Same tree!!

Tim H

It's coming towards the end of the Dry Season and the tree frogs are

very thirsty. They were sitting all over this tree waiting for the

sprinklers to turn on. I really like the blurred back ground. Let me

know what you think. I'll try to find some more tomorrow!!

Tim H

I went for a walk today with my newly acquired Minolta 70-210 f4

lense. It is in mint condition so for a lense made in the 80s I was

truly suprised by the quality of the photos attached to the Konica

Minolta 7D. A great lense for only 150 USD and image stabilized thanks

to Antishake.

Tim H

I tried to make a sepia like image of these twisted trees at out

botanical gardens. To me they look a bit creepy which was the effect I

was trying to achieve. Critiques welcome!!

Tim H

I thought this was an interesting way to display art and worthy of a

photo.

Tim H

The fountain lights looked very nice tonight so I couldn't resist

pulling out the camera and tripod for a quick photo shoot.

Tim H

I tried to take a 10 shot panorama of this cruise ship. It was

difficult to get everything to match up, this was the best I could do

for now. It really was a massive boat.

Tim H

Here's my attempt at a photo of a Cruise Liner in Darwin Harbour

tonight. I didn't have many angles of choice for taking the photo

because as you would expect security was high. Let me know your thoughts.

Tim H

Now that's a massive piece of work. Maybe you can make a VR Tour of that photo using Panorama Factory and email it to me, I'd like to see that. I'm thinking of writing some sort of info sheet on my experiences with Pano programs and other things you can do with them. The dynamic range test really must push the boundaries of this program because I did the same test in another Panorama program and it failed badly. Thanks for your comment.

Tim H