Sunday 20th of November 2005

Chase Report

Storms developed all over South East Queensland during the afternoon. One dropped golf ball sized hail over Redcliffe. Due to personal circumstances I was unable to chase until after dinner. Around 6pm a cell developed just off Redcliffe, then moved north east. At around 7:30 I went to the park at the top of Scarborough, and started shooting video and 15 second exposures on this cell. For about an hour it produced 1 or more lightning flashes per second. Then at about 8:30 pm it was like someone hit the off switch and cell stopped producing much lightning. Only about 1 every 10 seconds, and a lot more faint as the cell moved away. I decided not long after this to call it an evening. I've uploaded the best of the shots and some video as well. Below are a selection of the better shots. To view all the photo's I've uploaded, click the Photo Gallery link above.

The cell was far enough away that there was no thunder sound at all. I tried a few different shot techniques until I got the best exposure and aperture settings later in the chase. Unfortunately that means I missed a lot of detail in some of my earlier shots. Not using a DSLR means I don't have quite as good quality as other chasers at night. I also shot some still exposures on slide film, it will be interesting to see how they turn out.