The Last Word – Jim Garner: Lightning Strike

Imagine that Jim Garner (named by American Photo as one of the world’s top 10 wedding photographers and winner of WPPI’s Best Album awards in 2007 and 2008) has become accustomed to dealing with a little bit of rain at his weddings. But conditions like the ones captured in this dramatic image could be enough to put even the most adept photographer a little off their game—especially when the storm nearly blew the reception tent right over.

Shot in Baltimore, MD, this portrait was created in the bride’s backyard. “Imagine the hottest, most humid day of the year in Maryland,” says Jim. “When we saw the storm approaching and knew that lightning was on its way, we ran out to the field in the hope of capturing the intensity of the moment.” In the background, you can see the pair of trees that, earlier in the day, served as the altar for the couple’s ceremony. Jim placed the couple in position to showcase these trees, knowing that it would make the image all the more special to them, then watched the storm progress overhead.

“I knew I needed to capture a lightning bolt, which meant I needed my shutter to be open long enough for a lightning strike to hit,” says Jim, adding that, “since I did not have a tripod, it also had to be a hand-held shot.” Working at a shutter speed of 1/10 in manual mode, he clicked off more than 20 shots, one after the other, until he knew he had that magic moment (in fact, he got the lightning three times). Despite the slow shutter speed, many images of the couple were sharp due to the short flash duration of the lightning, the sole source of illumination in the photograph.

Two images were merged in postproduction, to create the final look and the composited shot was cropped to a panoramic so it would properly fit a horizontal album design. Vignetting, saturation adjustments and a J. Garner texture were also applied for subtle impact. Finally, the Diffuse Glow filter was a applied on a duplicate background layer at 15% opacity to give the same visual pop that the lightning would have when seen by the human eye.

“Images such as this one can be done without a tripod using simple techniques,” says Jim. “Thinking ahead of what can be done in postproduction is essential for the success of this type of photograph.”

To see more of Jim Garner’s photography, visit his website: www.jgarnerphoto.com.

Michelle Perkins is a writer, designer, and photographer from Buffalo, NY. Her most recent book from Amherst Media, is titled 500 Poses for Photographing Women: A Visual Sourcebook for Professional Photographers.