DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Use CHDK As A Definite Lightning Rod For Your Pictures

May 8, 2011 by Udi Tirosh Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Lightning in Sant FeliuA little while back we introduced an electric DIY which was designed to help reduce the luck factor when going on a stormy night to photograph lighting. It involved quite a bit of hardware and was aimed towards DSLRs that have an external trigger jack.

Turns out there is an easier way for most Canon P&S owners. It is called CHDK. We discussed CHDK before when we showed how to make Hi Res time lapse movies. This time CHDK comes to the rescue with a lighting catching script.

Well, actually a motion detection script, but it will do for our use.

The idea is geekily simple (yes, I can say that, I used to write code for living):

  1. The change of light caused by lightning is somewhat similar to the change caused by a moving object.
  2. Lightnings have a non zero duration and they linger for a while. (Well… a short while anyway).

Those two facts combined with a fast motions detection script can catch lightnings very well.

Lightning 1

The last thing to discuss is how can the camera shoot that fast. Well, this is the smart part – the script makes half a press on the shutter release “button” (or actually its software equivalent), so from detecting a lightning to doing an exposure there is actually very little delay.

RelampaGIF

Pictures in this post are courtesy of Guy Rimmer, spreketek and BY-YOUR-⌘

Download the FMD (Fast Motion Detection) script for CHDK on the CHDK forums.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailUsing CHDK For Quadcopter Aerial Photography Default ThumbnailIs A CHDK For Nikon Around The Corner? Caesars Palace Bankruptcy Puts $5M Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Rod Stewart On Hold Rod Stewart sued for £10,000 over copyright infringement after using a photo for a gig backdrop

Filed Under: Inspiration, Tutorials Tagged With: Projects

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

« Something Good Is Coming On Tuesday!
Something Good Is Coming On Tuesday! »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Photographer’s Block? Here’s how to get out of a creative rut
  • Zhiyun MOLUS G60 & X100 LED lights are tiny-tiny powerful LEDs
  • Three new full-frame and APS-C Sigma lenses coming soon
  • Sony launches DSC-HX99 retinal projection kit for the visually impaired
  • DIYP Quiz: AI or photo?

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy