Spanish Lightning!

From the rooftops in Malaga, Spain, I was able to catch this photo of a dry lightning storm that passed over the city in the early morning.

I have always been determined to expose a full lightning bolt at some point in my life, but never imagined that I'd be on a high rooftop standing beside a camera mounted to a 6-foot tripod while doing it! It's a very sketchy feeling, a lot like harvesting apples with a golfclub during a thunderstorm.

I found that my best strategy was to lock-on my shutter drive for continuous 15 second exposures, cross my fingers, and get as far and low from the camera as possible. Realistically, and as a footnote to you purists out there, there's no other way to get this shot! After 40-50 photos, I knew that I had it! The lightning seems to have grounded to a construction crane which is just out of the frame to the right, as well as a bolt in the distance that hits the roof and antennae of an apartment building.

Thanks, Gerhard, for the perfect vantage point, and thanks also for the cigars! Muchas Gracias, Amigo!