'Volcano of Water' Turns into a Lightning Rod (PoTD)

Credit: Sergio Montúfar

A lightning storm over the famous Volcán de Agua (Volcano of Water) in Guatemala is captured in this electrifying image of the forested landmark.

The image, captured by astrophotographer Sergio Montúfar, shows lightning bolts shooting from two communication antennas near the top of the volcano's crater, creating an ominous effect in the night sky.

space.com, Aug. 2, 2019 - 'Volcano of Water' Turns into a Lightning Rod in This Electrifying Image.

Sorry for the title edit. What you are seeing is not an artist's rendering of a fantasy-land or a painting! It is an actual picture of the moment lightening and a volcano meet!

There is not much more to the article than that, like what other images he takes (he is on Instagram, and there are some photos of the Milky Way arm spreading across the sky), but with a picture like this, who cares!

I am stunned by the image. Had to share. My vote for "Pic of The Day"!!

great pic. spectacular

a reply to: RoScoLaz5

There is a photo of him setting up equipment at night. This big barrel of a camera about waist high. He had to carry that thing to a clear place which is a task in and of itself. Then how did he time it right? Or is this just part of a series of pics? Or maybe even video?

IDK. There are no details in the article. But if it is not that hard to do, then maybe a super cool pic like this could spark a new hobby in certain people!

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

That's just the coolest picture , right time , right place , right moment.

The beauty of nature.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

It's not that hard to do. Mostly you need a very steady platform because very long exposure times are the trick (20 - 30 seconds). Post processing is also generally part of it.

digital-photography-school.com...

I have been lucky enough to take a picture at just the right second and caught a bolt of lightning....lots and lots of nothing and one click at the right time and I got it . No burst no time lapse nothing but pure luck.

a reply to: Phage

It's not that hard to do. Mostly you need a very steady platform because very long exposure times are the trick (20 - 30 seconds).

Yes and a volcano and lighting hitting the volcano.

Our well is down into an underground river, feeding some springs down the hill. The water has energy, it will cause a charge to build up on charcoal held next to the water of the faucet, the geiger counter starts a ticking. It has lots of Ions in it like a moving stream does. Lightning hits around here a lot, I pulled some carbon containing rocks away from near the tree trunks and it helped to lessen the lightning strikes on our property. Energy flows from earth to sky or vise versa. That spring they are talking about has energy from the flowing water and it could be either positive or negative ions, that is what initiates the connection, which way the energy flows, up or down, depends on whether it is positive or negative.

in the spring, your hair on your arms stands up when you stand over the underground river. When you fish by a stream, it might appear that it is cold, because the hair on your arms sticks up and your skin shivers sometimes as energy flows through you. The temperature in both places is pretty much equal to outside of the area, you should not be feeling cold.

That energy flow powers quicksand and increases chances of erosion, energy overloads the bond that holds some things together. Electrolytes increase the effects of the energy flow. Salt can increase erosion and quickening of the earth, calcium can quench the problem.

a reply to: Phage

That is correct. It does not take luck in a way people think... these are night time exposures, not fraction of a second daytime exposure as people think. That means a photographer does not have to be LUCKY to get the lightning at just the right moment.

The photo is snapped at night time with a 15-20 second exposure (or longer), and a few lightning strikes happened in that time frame. A few separate strikes may have made up what looks to be one strike at the top of the volcano, and then another one or two in the upper left.

On a stormy night, it's not hard to catch a photo of lightning, the hard job is keeping your camera steady for a long enough exposure. Not a lot of light out at night.


Pro Tip: You know that little hook that is at the underside of the tripod? Take your backpack off and hang it right there on that hook to stabilize your tripod and allow for longer exposures.

a reply to: Phage

He has something that looks like a fireworks mortar launcher. I assume you can tilt and aim it in a direction so that you can get landscapes and the stars above.

Experience helps to up the luck factor!

I’ll check out the link in a bit. Thanks for the info!

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

He also uses post processing:

Pictured earlier this month in a two-image composite, lightning stems from communication antennas near the top of Volcán de Agua (Volcano of Water) in Guatemala.

apod.nasa.gov...


The guy is good.

Official Astrophotographer at Planetario Ciudad de La Plata from Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas de La Plata.,


Latin America Ambassador for Photography Nightscape Awards - French Association of Astronmy

www.flickr.com...

a reply to: Phage

The guy is good.

Parts of it werent bad.

a reply to: Phage

Thanks!

That you think he is good is good is good enough for me!

And I will have to check out more photos he has taken.

a reply to: gortex

*sings*

Must have been the right place...



Ah, Dr. John...

I am surprised that you didn’t get this posted as we have the same tastes...

Thanks mate!! Keep on rocking in the free world!!