Mother Nature

A forked strike coming down just to the right of the Strat, with the streets below still wet from the rain. At 1/15 of a second you mostly keep firing and hope a frame lines up, and this one did.

Sony a6500 · 18mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This one never touched the ground. A crawler bolt spread sideways through the base of the storm and lit the whole sky purple over the city. Half-second exposure on the Sony a6500 at 26mm.

Sony a6500 · 26mm · f/6.3 · 1/2s · ISO 1250

Same storm, back-to-back frames. This time the crawler threw extra branches out to the right along the underside of the cloud, which was so dark it swallowed the top of the frame. Sony a6500, 26mm, half a second at ISO 1250.

Sony a6500 · 26mm · f/6.3 · 1/2s · ISO 1250

The Strat was the obvious anchor for this composition, and I got lucky when a bolt came down right next to it. 1/20s at f/4.5, ISO 1000 on the Sony a6500 at 36mm.

Sony a6500 · 36mm · f/4.5 · 1/20s · ISO 1000

Same storm, wider framing at 30mm, and this time the bolt came down over the left side of the skyline instead of next to the tower. The clouds flashed purple for a fraction of a second each time.

Sony a6500 · 30mm · f/4 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

One of the biggest bolts I've caught. It split into a whole web of branches across the sky before it hit somewhere out past the edge of the city. This is a vertical frame and a much smaller file than the rest, so it's a little soft up close.

Downtown from a distance at 68mm, with the Circa and Golden Nugget signs holding their own against the storm. The bolt landed somewhere behind downtown toward the mountains.

Sony a6500 · 68mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 640

This bolt ran sideways along the cloud base before it hooked down toward downtown. Slightly wider at 56mm than the other frame from this spot, so a bit more of the storm shows.

Sony a6500 · 56mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 640

A quieter frame. One clean bolt dropped out of the cloud deck at the far end of the valley, with the World Market Center lit up blue on the left. 1/8s at f/4 on the Sony a6500 at 27mm.

Sony a6500 · 27mm · f/4 · 1/8s · ISO 640

One clean bolt coming down at the edge of town while a monsoon cell pushed through, with the World Market Center glowing blue below. Sony a6500 at 23mm, 1/8s at f/4.

Sony a6500 · 23mm · f/4 · 1/8s · ISO 640

This one dropped almost perfectly straight out of the cloud base, with a curtain of rain falling right next to it. I was firing off short 1/13s exposures and just waiting for something to land.

Sony a6500 · 21mm · f/4 · 1/13s · ISO 640

Same storm, same spot, and this strike split into two strands on the way down. Catching a forked bolt like this in a 1/10s exposure was mostly luck.

Sony a6500 · 21mm · f/4 · 1/10s · ISO 640

Instead of hitting the ground, this lightning spread sideways through the clouds like a spider web and lit the whole sky violet. The World Market Center sits on the right side of the frame in this one.

Sony a6500 · 23mm · f/4 · 1/20s · ISO 800

A single crawler bolt stretched across almost the whole sky over the valley, with a spur dropping off the left end. 1/20s at f/4 on the Sony a6500 was quick enough to keep the buildings sharp and still catch the flash.

Sony a6500 · 23mm · f/4 · 1/20s · ISO 800

A quieter moment in the storm, with a few small flashes buried in the clouds and a soft purple glow in the middle. Not every frame is a monster bolt, but I like the mood of this one.

Sony a6500 · 23mm · f/4 · 1/15s · ISO 640

A knot of intracloud lightning that never made it to the ground, just a tangle of branches glowing inside the storm. Sony a6500 at 23mm, 1/10s at f/4.

Sony a6500 · 23mm · f/4 · 1/10s · ISO 640

Lightning over the Strat with the Strip hotels lit up behind it. I had been waiting for a bolt to land in the same frame as the tower, and this forked one showed up in the top right corner. 26mm, 1/10s at f/4.

Sony a6500 · 26mm · f/4 · 1/10s · ISO 800

A forked bolt dropping behind the towers to the left of the Strat during a monsoon storm. Shot on my Sony a6500 at 19mm with a quick 1/15-second exposure, which was enough to catch the branches while the flash lit up the whole sky.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/6.3 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

The frame right before the forked strike beside the Strat, and this flash was so bright it nearly bleached the whole sky. I like the thin side branches crawling off the main channel.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/6.3 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

A single skinny bolt right at the edge of the frame while the rest of the sky stayed black. The Strat holds down the middle as usual; this one is all about the empty space.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/6.3 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

Shot in a burst alongside the two brighter frames next to it. By this one the flash had dimmed and the sky had gone back to black, leaving just a slim, sharply defined channel coming down behind the red-lit towers.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/6.3 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

The brightest frame from a burst on a monsoon night. The channel was so intense it lit the whole storm cell behind the Strat, and you can see the dark column of cloud hanging in the middle of the sky.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/6.3 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

First frame of a burst of the same strike, with the channel splitting into two branches near the top of the frame. The whole sky went lavender for an instant.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/6.3 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This one never came down to the ground. It crawled sideways through the clouds off to the left of the Strat instead, and the 1/15-second exposure picked up every little branch.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/6.3 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

My favorite kind of frame: a single clean bolt snaking down and landing right next to the Strat. Sony a6500 at 19mm, f/5.6, 1/15 of a second, and a lot of waiting.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This bolt came down right beside the Strat and lit the whole sky lavender for a split second. I was firing frames at 1/15s on the Sony a6500 at 19mm and this was the one that landed.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

The same strike zone a frame apart, and this one was so bright it nearly washed out the sky. You can see the thin tendrils branching off to the right as it snaked down toward the skyline.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This one looked like it never quite made it to the ground. It burst out of the cloud base and split into a handful of forks that faded out around the rooftops to the left of the Strat.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

Not every bolt goes to the ground. This one dropped in from the top of the frame, hooked hard to the left, and crawled sideways across the upper sky with the Strat sitting quietly underneath.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

A single clean channel dropping straight down behind the towers to the left of the Strat. At 1/15s on the a6500, catching a bolt like this is mostly luck and persistence.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

Same channel as the lone bolt, but this frame caught a much brighter stroke that turned the entire sky lavender. Same spot behind the skyline, thicker and hotter.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This one spread out sideways like tree roots across the top of the frame instead of coming down. Cloud-to-cloud lightning like this is quieter to watch but just as fun to shoot.

Sony a6500 · 19mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

A long crawler stretched nearly the full width of the frame and lit the whole sky a deep purple. I was at 24mm on the a6500 for this one, a little tighter than the rest of the set, and it still just barely fit.

Sony a6500 · 24mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This one crawled sideways across the sky instead of coming down, which is my favorite kind of bolt to catch. I was at 18mm on the a6500 and it still nearly ran off the right edge of the frame.

Sony a6500 · 18mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

A clean single bolt dropping straight down behind the red-lit towers next to the Strat. The whole sky went lavender for a split second.

Sony a6500 · 21mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

One of two back-to-back frames I got of this strike. The sky is a shade darker in this one and the bolt is just as sharp, so I couldn't bring myself to pick between them.

Sony a6500 · 21mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This bolt came down off to the left of the skyline, well away from the Strat, with the clouds above it looking almost black. It was nice to get one with some open space around it.

Sony a6500 · 22mm · f/5.6 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

One of the brightest strikes of the night. It came down just to the right of the Strat and lit the whole sky up like daytime for a fraction of a second, which is why the frame looks so washed out.

Sony a6500 · 22mm · f/4 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

The flash on this one was so intense it blew out the entire right side of the frame. Not a keeper in the usual sense, but it gives you an idea of how bright these strikes can be.

Sony a6500 · 22mm · f/4 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

A thin, almost orange bolt coming down through the haze, with the Strat barely showing through what I'm pretty sure was rain between me and the city.

Sony a6500 · 25mm · f/4 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

A single fat bolt came down to the right of the Strat while rain hazed out the whole valley. This one was 1/15s at f/4 on the Sony a6500, and the flash lighting up all that rain is why the sky reads more like fog than night.

Sony a6500 · 25mm · f/4 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This is the frame right before that one, same strike, and here the flash pushed the exposure almost all the way to white. The Strat is barely there in the glow, but I like how the bolt seems to burn straight through the rain.

Sony a6500 · 25mm · f/4 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

This bolt curled in from the upper right and hit right behind the World Market Center downtown. Shot at 18mm, f/3.5, 1/15s on the a6500 from a high vantage point looking down over the rooftops.

Sony a6500 · 18mm · f/3.5 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

Same spot as the arcing bolt, but this time the strike stayed mostly inside the cloud and just lit the whole sky white. Only a little tip of the bolt peeks out at the top right.

Sony a6500 · 18mm · f/3.5 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

The main strike completely overwhelmed the sensor and turned into a pillar of white, but all the little branches around it survived. Sometimes the overexposed frames still have something going on.

Sony a6500 · 18mm · f/3.5 · 1/15s · ISO 1000

My favorite kind of strike, the ones that branch out sideways across the sky instead of just dropping straight down. This one stayed under control at 1/15s, f/3.5 on the a6500, so the sky held its dark purple instead of blowing out to white.

Sony a6500 · 18mm · f/3.5 · 1/15s · ISO 1000