Off line since Wed Night - the reason.......

[Matty B]

Hi,

I'm back! Last Wed. night -huge thunderstorm appeared from nowhere - I took some shots from the decking outside, came back inside after I counted a 7 second delay between light and sound, unplugged the modem line and shut PC off. 3 Min. later one bolt hit our lower dam (35m from house). My partner and I stood in the back doorway giggling with glee at the huge thunderclaps and then I felt my whole head of hair rise up in a frizz and BANG - the loudest bolt of lightning I've experienced to date!!

It flew over our roof top and struck a tree only 50 meters away on the otherside of the road - fire ensued, by 1:30 am the brigade was leaving and we could go to bed. Next day tried for internet - molten modem, despite it being unplugged from phone line! One new modem and four days later I'm sharing this experince with you. V. glad I got this exposure though! Not much PS diddling with it contrast upped a bit - it just lit up the whole garden! Moral of story - must unplug both phone and power supplies on PC in lightning storm!

Cheers, Matty B

[birddog114]

Matty,
Woohooo! Great to hear that you're escaped and survived the trauma!
Nice pics and it's right time!
Thanks for sharing

[BBJ]

Hi Matty, Well mate something good came out of it and thats the great picture you captured, shame about the modem but well could have been worse mate, you might not have had a house to be sleeping in or no computer so glad to hear all is ok and well back up and running.
Cheers
John
BBJ

[Matty B]

Thanks Birddog,

I kid not about the hair raising effect!! By the time we knew why our hair was standing up we were blinded and deafened............my ears are still ringing!

[christiand]

Hi Matty,

holy tomato !
Great photo.
Thanks for the advice to not only disconnect from the phone line put also power !
Lightning can cause damage to computers while they are connected to the power outlet.
I'm intrigued how the modem had melted but no damage to the PC.

Cheers
CD

[Matty B]

Thanks BBJ,

Yes, we got out of it nearly Scott free. The giant pine is one of a row of many across the road and lost one limb - grass burn on roadside etc. The storm was not forecast, no Bureau warning issued, and it really shook us up - BUT, after the event it really is warming to know that there are still some aspects of life which remain unpredictable and natural.

[BBJ]

Yeh Matty, i know how scary it is i used to belong to to CFS=Country Fire Service for about 15 years and have been out fighting fires that was caused by lightning strike, and is very scary when you are out fighting these with lightning strikes surrounding you.

Where i live, we are surounded by Pine plantatations as the timber industry is very bog here so we do get out fair share of fires caused by this.
Goodluck

[boxerboy]

MattyB,

What a photo! Too bad it doesn't come with sound

Glad to hear everything's OK

Cheers
Peter

[Matty B]

Thanks Christiand,

Yes, stuffed modem - no phone line but plugged in power. I had a former Teslstra online - tech/ engineer visit this weekend, he claims that the atmosphee becomes so charged with negative ions that the modem panels are not manufactured with tollerances enough to cope with such charging. Basically he says that it was a massive static charge that upset the modem. I have the board in front of me and it looks fine- no molten coponents. He says the whole PC would be caput if it was a power surge issue.

BBJ, Yes, Mt Gambier - pine plantations - Iknow the drill. Our local CFA are brill. They acted swiftly but so cool. No panic (like me) Thanks for being a volunteer for all those 15 years - I appreciate you and all other fire fighters.

[jethro]

radar would be droolin. sorry about the OT but where is radar!

[sirhc55]

Brilliant shot in more ways the one

[Matty B]

Thanks Chris,

I guess it's ok as an image as one can recognise it a lighning in a garden setting of sorts. I do adore some of the work of others who use skyscrapers etc- a more dramatic foreground to compliment the lightning. BTW, thanks to Birdy who sold me a remote shutter release. You know, working in total darkness, fumbling with shutter buttons on BulB mode with my tr-pod is a recipie for failure. That remote control shutter release is a truly fine item! I can't shoot some subject matter without it!

I had the wide angle lens set at a full 12mm , man mode, shutter Bulb, ISO 200 f 5.6 - I find it really difficult knowing how tight to set aperture for this sort of thing. Sometimes you get great lightning bolts and sometimes it's all blown out and un-recoverable in PS.

[ozimax]

What a pic - I'm scared just looking at it. Years ago back on the farm we had a strike on a massive tree down the paddock a bit, this huge gum was just splinters, the power in a storm is amazing. You have captured just this with a memorable photo, Max

[JordanP]

Fantastic shot! so close. Sorry to hear about the fried modem but glad to see you are all safe and back on-line.

Cheers,

[MHD]

Awesome.... So jealous..

[stormygirl]

WOW! What a shot! That's brilliant! I hope one day to be able to do the same (although would not like to be that close!!). Well done, and sorry to hear about your modem

[the foto fanatic]

Man! Hair-raising story!
Glad everyone is OK.
The power of nature, eh?

[mudder]

Wow, that's awesome... Glad the modem's the only thing that was fried! Phew...

Cheers,
Mudder