How do I get proper focus when photographing lightning strikes?

Question

I've been lucky to have the opportunity to photograph several large thunderstorms in Colorado recently, however I ran into a couple issues. The first issue I've run into is getting proper focus.

As a landscape photographer, I've become accustomed to using the hyperfocal setting on my wide-angle lenses, as it makes it easier to get good focus for very distant mountain ranges and the like. I started trying to do the same thing to photograph lightning, however, setting my lens right to the hyperfocal mark does not actually seem to capture the lightning itself in focus. The landscape in the distance behind seems to be in focus, but it seems to be a bit too far out otherwise.

Most of the time these thunderstorms happen late at night, and it is nearly pitch black except for the light from lightning itself. Are there any tricks I can use to quickly focus properly so I can capture lightning without it looking like chains of bright white bubbles? I've tried a trial and error approach, however I've ended up missing many really great shots because I was fiddling with my camera trying to get it in proper focus. Even slightly out of focus, I wish I had been able to get some of the shots I missed.

Lightning Focus http://a.imageshack.us/img412/8115/lightningfocusexample.jpg

Above is the best ground strike shot from a set taken a few days ago. You can best see the lack of focus in the non-main streamers. This was a smaller bolt, struck probably less than 500 feet away. The tree in the foreground, probably about 10 feet from the camera, is also a bit out of focus. I had originally tried to focus on the landscape well behind near hyperfocal focus...at least, as best I could tell in the dark. I made several adjustments successively through numerous shots to finally get this shot as clear as it was. I missed plenty of much better shots, however, due to the lack of focus. If there was some quick trick to set a correct focus in near darkness, I'd LOVE to know about it.

Answer 1

I'm writing down some of the ideas that are scattered here and there:

• Hang something heavy below your tripod to minimize wind (and possibly shockwave) shake
• Check whether you can trust your focusing scale for manual focusing (see my comment below Guffa's answer)
• Stop down your aperture as much as you can (you probably want to stay in the 30 sec AE limit so it might not be applicable)
• If possible check whether something is in focus in your picture to understand where the focus was set. It's really easy to loose focus by accidentally touching the focus ring (sorry if it sounds too obvious, just I've lost more shots I'd like this way myself).

Answer 2

Do not try to autofocus. Switch to manual, set to hyperfocal and close the aperture to, say, 5.6 - this will give you a really huge depth of field for most lenses you would use for lightning short.

My guess is that the lightnings aren't out of focus; they are blurry because of the camera shake.

Answer 3

I went on a shoot with a photographer that focuses on storms, and his techniques included the following ideas:

• Counter-intuition for your aperture. Use a narrow aperture (even f/22) for close lightning as focus will not be not an issue.
• Distant shots can bump up the aperture, even to f/2.8, as the area of activity will be narrow (being far) and DOF is not an issue in the dark.
• Keep ISO (and noise) down. Lightning is high-contrast.
• Use "soft waterfall" and "light painting" shooting techniques to build ambient light and highlight lightning patterns, which will emphasize (and ideally not swamp) the major singular events.
• As above but stressed; long exposures (think bulb mode) will be more useful than a CF card full of human attempts to capture one-billionth-of-a-second natural events.
• Light reactive triggers are also an option.
• Don't stand anywhere you might get zapped.
• Daytime lightning photography is the most difficult, whereas night time can exploit the lighting contrast, singular content features (lightning, not landscape) and the use of long exposures (without needing to ramp up ND filters).

Answer 4

Does the channel move around a bit between bolts? Lighting is usually several flashes, so if they're not exactly in the same place, it might appear fuzzy. Also there is the leader, which isn't very bright but maybe that's affecting things.

Could also be bloom. Lightning is very bright (it's a lot hotter than the sun's surface).

Verify that stuff in front of and behind the lightning is in focus. If yes, that means focus isn't your problem.

Answer 5

The best thing to do is set focus to infinity.

Answer 6

This image looks to me BOTH shaken (although very slightly) and out of focus.

To verify it, this is what I suggest you do. In a bright sunny day, switch your lens to MF, set at hyperfocal and shot a tree across the street. Or perhaps even a long street with clear road markings.

Look at the results. Find the in-focus spot. Tune the lens. Repeat until you will figure out the REAL hyperfocal point in your lens. Should take no more than a few minutes.

Answer 7

You can do this the same way you would with fireworks, Use a very wide aperture on a long exposure, so say f18-22. This will bring the whole strike into focus, you should also have a low ISO from 100-200

Shoot a 30sec exposure, fire the trigger and keep a black piece of card over the lens, as the lightening strikes remove the card and pop back on when it fades, this will stop the camera shake when the shutter opens and closes.

You should also cover the view finder with a piece of black tape, this will stop any unwanted light getting to the sensor while the shutter is open.