Carter E. Gowl Landscape Photography

According to some authorities this is the only known photograph of a rare ground to air strike other than those involving man made objects. It was photographed in late June 2002, at dusk in the Absaroka Range, using a revolutionary new device called a “Lightning Trigger”. This instrument, coupled to cameras equipped with an electronic shutter release, automatically makes an exposure when wavelengths (color temperatures) characteristic of lightning are detected. Dramatic strikes can last for several hundred milliseconds and are actually a series of pulsations 40 to 50 milliseconds apart. The shutter lag of the Nikon F100, used to capture this image, is about 50 milliseconds.