When the sky darkened and lightning began to flash, Kane Quinnell grabbed his new digital camera, hoping to snap some pictures of the approaching storm.

Not having a tripod, he balanced the camera on his car, parked under the carport of his then Old Toongabbie home, and aimed the lens southward.

It never occurred to Mr Quinnell that his new hobby - photographing storms - could be dangerous.

"In the north you could see a few stars and it wasn't raining," he recalled.

"The storm looked like it was five to 10 kilometres to the south. I thought it was perfectly safe to be outdoors, taking photos."

After setting the camera for a four-second exposure he began shooting pictures, suspecting there was little chance of lightning flashing while the shutter was open.

"I hit the button … and there was nothing. I hit the button again … and nothing. On about the fourth attempt I hit the button again and I saw this lightning and heard the thunder.

"It was like a crack. The next thing I was about two metres in the air - it scared the hell out of me."

Mr Quinnell estimated the lightning struck about 20 metres away. "I think it hit the house behind me."

Unhurt, but buzzing with adrenaline, he rushed inside to check the photo on his computer.

"I was amazed. It was the first storm picture I had really taken."

He emailed the picture to friends and suspects one of them forwarded it to the Bureau of Meteorology, because it called to ask if the shot could be published with 11 other spectacular photographs in its 2006 weather calendar.

"Kane," said the bureau's Melissa Lyne, "risked his life to take the [calendar's] August photo of a lightning strike."

Mr Quinnell, an IT technician, said that as a small boy he was frightened by thunderstorms.

"I grew up and got over the fear factor and started to really enjoy the light shows," he said.

Now armed with a tripod, he hopes to continue with his new hobby.

"I am just waiting for some rain. There haven't been may storms lately."

Phil Gordon, a truck driver, farmer and visual artist from Newcastle, said the storm he photographed at Treachery Beach, near Seal Rocks, "was like a living thing".

Although it was sunset, the eastern sky glowed so brightly "it looked like the sun was rising".

He recalled taking 60 to 80 photographs before he and his son Ryan were forced to run for cover from the 40 knot winds and the rain that flooded their camping ground. Then, 10 to 15 minutes after the storm arrived, "it was gone".

Source

thats awesome great pic its amazing
lucky it wasnt him that got struck

Yeah, that's a once-in-a-lifetime pic! He was very lucky to get such an awesome shot and also escape unhurt.

I wonder what happened to his neighbour's house?

everytime you walk past it your hair stands up on end either that or he now has free cable lol

Hmm, I have this same picture...saved it years ago because it's a fascinating pic. The story that came with it was different back then, though. That story was an accidental capture from a woman in her backyard, just taking a pic of the storm. The buildings were supposedly of her sheds.

Amazing picture! It's good to know he left the scene unscathed. But I have to ask;
What's so bizarre about this story?

True or not, it's a lovely picture.

Hmmm .. well whatever the story is .. that is a cool pic.

Looks fake but I suppose it is real... He would have been blinded by the light and fried by the scorching heat.........

He wasn't standing that close to the lightning bolt.

strange feeling this is phoney!!! im gonna do some reasearch

OH! So purply. He's so lucky he got that shot. It's so pretty too.

That is a cool pic. How lucky are you to photograph a lightening bolt?

Or ended up looking like this.....

It's a real pic I seen it on Discovery Channel before as well.

Whats funny is for as big as that lightning bolt looks it is actually no bigger then the average size adult thumb.

That's a beautiful picture..

Here's some of my other lightning favs.



And my fav:

lol

WOW! That is such a cool picture!

Great pictures Frogfish.

Here's the 3rd pic enlarged:


It's called "God's Light". Photographed by my favorite photographer. All his pictures are taken in the area of Ludington, MI.

The pic showing lightning striking the sea is awesome frogfish!

I love thunderstorms!!

Great Pic! I hope nobody got hurt by the impact. I have often tried to get photos of lightening on my camera, as it is such a beautiful phenomenon, although it can be deadly.

You can see the ozone when it hits an object, which you can see by the surrounding colours.

I hope the photographer was not too close.

I love thunderstorms, and don't mind the lightening too much. Although, I do get funny headaches before a bad thunderstorm.

I love watching the lightening, especially dancing in the clouds. All that energy that surrounds us. Amazing.