• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Lightning close-ups in stills and HD video

Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
3,447
Location
St. Louis
I recently finished a big video edit compiling extreme close-ups of lightning strikes to a television antenna mast, shot simultaneously on HD video and high-res DSLR still images, with slow motion replays. Visible phenomena include channel drift and bead-out, upward leaders and arc-weld sparks and smoke from the tower tip.

The clips in this video were shot over the course of 3 years. You can view this in full HD on Youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbFWMxeIlhY
 
It's amazing the beating all towers and their equipment take. Repeated lightning strikes, 100 MPH winds, 70 MPH gusts, large hail, and they keep on going and working as desired. And the engineering that goes into wind turbine towers is impressive too. (a tremendous amount of steel and concrete)
 
Dan, this is by far and away the most impressive lightning video I have ever seen, from both an entertainment and and educational standpoint. I had never seen so many focused and up-close displays of lightning hitting an object so clearly. It was cool to see the bead out and the return strokes "rebuild" the lower part of the channel to maintain striking the tower. Very impressive. You should sell that video to a production company. I think it would be worth something.
 
Thanks for the kind words! I can't get enough of the experience of seeing this in person. It's as thrilling as seeing a tornado. I'm hoping to do more of this in the future with even longer lenses.
 
Magnificent work! I really enjoyed this! Very sensitively and beautifully done! I agree with Jeff, perhaps this could be the seed of a new Nova production or something of that caliber. Fascinating, awesome, and truly capturing the magnificence of God's fireworks.
Also, I enjoyed your choice of music; and it's been really rare I've enjoyed music accompanying storm images. Usually I put the music on mute.

Dan, this is by far and away the most impressive lightning video I have ever seen, from both an entertainment and and educational standpoint. I had never seen so many focused and up-close displays of lightning hitting an object so clearly. It was cool to see the bead out and the return strokes "rebuild" the lower part of the channel to maintain striking the tower. Very impressive. You should sell that video to a production company. I think it would be worth something.
 
I hope no one minds if I drag up a 2 month old thread, but this was AMAZING. Lightning photography is what led me to storm chasing, and I must say this is one of the best lightning videos I have ever seen. Thanks so much Dan for sharing it! Great stuff!
 
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