Lightning over the Great South Bay Last Night

By Mike Busch

I always look for the chance to get a decent lightning shot but the opportunities have been few and far between. The pattern the last few years is for the stronger, lightning heavy storms to dissipate by the time they reach my location on the south shore of Suffolk.

Even if the storms do hold together, my camera stays in the bag if I can’t protect it from the rain. The ideal situation is to position yourself far enough from the storm to stay dry and be able to shoot over open water to catch an unobstructed view.

I noticed some cells moving south and east of my location and set up looking over the Bay and Fire Island from Brookhaven around 9:30 p.m. Although I didn’t get the dramatic bolt I was looking for, the storm structure, illuminated clouds and lightning made for a few decent shots.

Note the stars that appeared in the last few images as the storm moved offshore.