READER PHOTOS

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A lightning storm in KZN, a greyhound on the West Coast and an airfield in Afghanistan… Did your photo make the cut this month?

BENNO KLINCK

@bennoklinckphotography Nikon D7200 Nikon 18 – 140 mm lens

BENNO WRITES: I took this photo during sunset on New Year’s Eve, 2017. My family and I were visiting my grandmother’s farm near Ladysmith in KZN. This is the first time I’ve managed to get a decent shot of lightning. I’m new to photography and I still struggle. I used a tripod with these settings: ISO 100, aperture f9, shutter speed 1/10 second. I took almost 400 photos before I got the perfect shot!

TOAST SAYS: When you’re trying to photograph a lightning storm, always be careful and stand under an awning or a roof if possible. Digital photography makes it possible to experiment: Benno could take 400 photos without a hitch. Imagine how difficult it would have been to get this shot with film? So why did Benno use ISO 100 instead of a higher ISO, considering how dim the light was? (The higher the ISO, like 800 or 1600, the more sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light. The trade-off of a high ISO is often loss of quality, but modern technology is fixing this.) Benno used a tripod. By stabilising his camera, he could use a slower shutter speed and a lower ISO. The slow shutter speed was important because it increased his chances of capturing a strike. His relatively narrow aperture of f9 ensured that most elements in the frame are sharp. The composition of the shot is strong, with the windsock on the left and the house to the right lending a sense of scale to the dramatic scene. No one will care about the other 399 photos on Benno’s memory card – this is the one!