Supercell over Geneva, lightning picts

Published by: mike 2010-03-13

Hi there,

On the 20th of june, a very nice supercell occured in the northern Alps. I intercepted the storm from the "Sal�ve", a 1300m moutain close to Geneva. The base of the cumulonimbus was so low that I could take the strikes over Geneva from above. It's really a wonderful experience. Here are a few photos...

http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/DSC_4225.jpg[/URL] (http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/DSC_4225.jpg)

Watching the Skies Over Wisconsin-Stormy Weather and Other ::
It probably gave residents quite a fright though as it hovered directly over areas affected by a major tornado on August 18, 2005. The lightning was a lucky
http://ayaredubya.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.htmlHOME

http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/DSC_4256.jpg

http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/DSC_4259.jpg

http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/DSC_4262.jpg

There are a few more photos on the French storm chasing forum [URL]http://foudre.chasseurs-orages.com/viewtopic.php?t=1515

Best regards,
Chris

What great photos. What a great view from all of them. Congrats!!

Hey Chris, those shots are awesome, and definately marketable. Can I ask what your camera/lens/settings were for those?

Just curious.

The global lightning-induced nitrogen oxides source::
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobattain supercell and multicell storms over land reach updraft velocities up to about 80ms−1 Meteorological Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland, 1999.
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/7/3823/2007/acp-7-3823-2007.pdfHOME

ABC 33/40 Weather Blog::
Lightning activity has greatly decreased in these storms although there was a nice .. Severe weather was breaking out over the Wiregrass. A supercell
http://www.alabamawx.com/?p=zaixhgmbmme&paged=748HOME

Thanks,
John

Here it is John

Make - NIKON CORPORATION
Model - NIKON D50
ExposureTime - 30 seconds
FNumber - 10.00
ExposureProgram - Manual control
FocalLength - 32.00 mm
ISO Setting - 200
Image Quality - FINE
White Balance - AUTO
Image Sharpening - AUTO
Focus Mode - MANUAL
White Balance Adjustment - 0
Lens type - AF-D G

Regards,
Chris

Those are awesome, did you catch them in RAW or plain JPEG?

Holy moses! Those are one of the best lightning images I've ever seen, Chris!:eek: I always love these strikes over the city...but these shots from above, so you can see the bottom part of the strike on the ground...oh my...that is just spectacular!

Congratulations and thanks for posting them! Truly outstanding shots!

FAAAAAAAAAAAANTAAAAAAAAAAAAASTIC!!!!!

Whoop whoop! Batten down the server hatches, this thread has been linked at Reddit (http://www.reddit.com).

I've always been curious if Reddit was on par with FARK in terms of server traffic.

Incredible pictures Chris. Well done!
Did you actually see the wall cloud rotate?
Having observed the cell from the other side of the lake of Geneva, I could also clearly see the lowering for more than 30 minutes or so, but it was difficult to tell wether there was rotation or not. BTW, do you have more pictures of the wall cloud?
Anyway that was an impressive storm with lots of hail, flooding and blown down trees.

Congratulations!

Cheers

Dean

Absolument �tonnant !

Those shots rank right up there with the famous CG/waterspout pic some years back. Very nice and marketable pics you have.

Awesome lightning as usual! I'm thinking you had even "better" ones striking the hills in some mountain, right?

Amazing! You can see the little bolt in the last picture hitting the water!

Ah, I'm late to the show... but STUNNING shots! Your vantage point almost seems like you are up in the storm clouds themselves. :eek:

Love the crops also. Great work!

Scott

yeah, chris...amazing shots...

keep up the good work man!

Those are just tremendous! Was that an observation deck you were standing on? Must have been quite a ride!

Oh my God Christophe! Incredible lightings!

Wow and you never got hit with lightning amazing. You must have realy been up close. Keep up the good work!

Truely outstanding photos!!
Well down! :)

Incredible !!! :rolleyes:
Really 3-D.....

Chris, thank you for posting those images. Awesome! You also have some nice images on your webpage.

Bill Hark

Those are a lightning chaser's dream. Great vantage point and perfect exposures.

Magnifique!

Wow... I'm not sure what else there is to say... amazing.

Thanks for all your comments. Yes Mike I had a chance to catch nice lightnings over the Alps during the 10th of september. The Sal�ve is a nice place. There is a nice view over Geneva and its lake on one side, and the Alps and the White Mount on the other side.

As requested on a French forum, I made a few crops. I'm sure you will enjoy them as well.

http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/foudre-impact-1.jpg

http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/foudre-impact-2.jpg

http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/foudre-impact-3.jpg

http://www.chasseurs-orages.com/images/Orages/suarez/foudre-20-06-07/foudre-impact-4.jpg

Christophe

Indeed, those are spectacular. I've noticed from several other photographers that taking lightning photos from an elevated vantage over a valley as a storm rolls often results in spectacular shots, as you end up getting a sense of the volume of space the storm takes up. Personally, I would never have enough courage to scale up to the level of the bottom of the updraft base and whip out a metal tripod -- that takes a special kind of brave! Glad you didn't get zapped -- and excellent shots!

These are not normal! Holy cow...

I wonder from where or how you shot these with regard to your own safety, being at such a high vantage point!
Maybe I should spend some time in the Pyrenees over here, but to get this result is not going to be easy ;) ...I might possibly crap out when lightning comes this close with me in mid air.
Congratulations!

Oscar

Ohhh man now that is just INSANE!! Thank you very much for these croped images...absolutely outstanding! Now I am more than sure that these are the best lightning images I've ever seen!

Those pictures rank in the top 5 of all lightning related photographs I have ever seen. These are definately award material - and some of the few pics that would give Hollingshead and Strom a jawdrop. Absolutely excellent photography - well done.

truly unbelievable. nice job.

Unreal. Amazing work. Thanks for cropping too. GREAT WORK. How close was that one in your 1st or 2nd picture?

Hey Chris, those shots are awesome, and definately marketable. Can I ask what your camera/lens/settings were for those?

Just curious.

Thanks,
John

Holy Cow! Those are some amazing pictures!!!!!