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All Images Copyright Terry Pallister
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| With the VHS
camcorder that I used prior to May 31, 1997, I had discovered the trick
to get an additional 30 frames/second which reveals the different images
in a lightning sequence (see camcorder tips). In this way I could
always get the frame with the branches along the lightning channel.
With the digital camcorder I had not yet figured out how to get the other
30 frames. Sometimes a strike only shows up on 1 frame out of 60
per second. I was told by tech support "experts" and sales "experts"
that because of digital time coding that I could not get the other 30 frames/second
going between the digital camera and the digital VCR. Tech support
advised me to try to increase the shutter speed from 60 to 120 or slow
it to 30. It didn't make sense to me, but the "experts" said to try
it, so I did.
The experiment was a disaster. Here was the first storm of 1998 and I wanted to get some good lightning shots after such a long wait since last August 18th. May had no rainfall anywhere in New Orleans until this day. I got set up at 2 pm in the front of the building and adjusted the shutter speed down to 30. There were a dozen shots right in the camera's view 4 miles toward the SSW in a 5 minute period before the lightning suddenly ceased. I was sure I was going to go home and have a ball seeing my successes on tape. A new cell developed just out over the Lake after 3:30 pm. I set up and shot for a while toward the NW using the 120 shutter speed. When I got home I was shocked. In most cases no lightning showed up at all, not on still, slow motion, or at normal speed. The first shot above is from the first storm, about 2 miles away . The other image above was the only one I got on tape in the second storm and struck 5.6 miles away. I called a mail order salesman friend who is so interested in my lightning hobby (obsession these days). We talked about the "experiment" and what might be done to resolve the problem. Suddenly, while we were talking it dawned on me that maybe an analog S-Video connection might defeat the digital time code lock during copying. He said the picture will still look about the same and to try it. Well, I tried it that night and sure enough, it worked!!! If only I had thought of this before this storm. At least there would be no more experiments like this in the future. |
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| A 15 day hot
and dry spell with high temperatures at or near 100°F on many days
was finally more than the atmosphere could take. At 4:30 pm I looked
out and saw a promising shower forming off to the NE. I expected
the strong sinking motion aloft that had stopped all storm development
for the last 15 days would also keep this shower from doing much.
However, it continued to build until lightning started off to the ENE.
Growth continued and the first three shots above, occurred after a brief
heavy shower wet the ground and made the humidity very uncomfortable.
They struck between 5:05 and 5:15 pm and just 0.8 miles away.
The way things started out I thought this was going to be a great lightning show on tape. A sign of the storm's strength to come occurred while the sun was still shining through. A shaft of pea sized hail spread in from the NE over my spot. After it ended a couple of minutes later, the skies darkened and then the rains really started to come down in buckets. The storm built quickly and at one point a strong charge center developed right over me with lightning striking the building or very near it every few seconds for more than 2 minutes. During this spell either the highly charged water droplets or the charge on the concrete surrounding the building at the ground caused the rain to sound as if it was shattering as the drops hit. I thought that Mother Nature was taking aim at me. For several minutes I had to stop recording because the wind blew rain in on me. When I resumed taping I still had to hold the camera as bursts of rain still blew in from time to time. While the storm raged lightning just struck elsewhere on the other side of the building or was too weak looking because of the heavy rain. |
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| After a rather
disappointing session on the north side of the building when so much lightning
struck, but mostly elsewhere, I finally packed in the equipment and headed
out front to leave. When I got out front I was amazed at how black
the sky was off toward the whole southern horizon. The storm hadn't
just been over me, but had spread and drifted S and SW over the city and
beyond. There were occasional brilliant flashes, so I took out the
camera and hand held it to shoot. Lightning was now 1 to 2 minutes
apart and in no particular place to aim at. I was rewarded with several
very nice shots between 6:05 and 6:20 pm. The first shot above was
looking SSE and the second two were facing SSW toward the city. I
wish I had changed to this side of the building earlier.
It was getting to be time to take Nikki for her evening treatment at the vet. I didn't see too much else as I drove home to get her. The vet had left a message that she was stuck because of street flooding well to the west of where I had been. This storm had built and covered most of the New Orleans area within a 20 mile radius with heavy rain and hail in some places. The heat returned the next day. |