Have You Ever Had Your House Burn Down?

by | Sep 10, 2021 | Pic of the Month, Updates & Opportunities | 0 comments

I hope you haven’t.

Can you imagine how incredibly horrifying that experience would be? Even if nobody was hurt, it’s one of the most awful things I can imagine.

And imagine if all your camera equipment was inside. It’s all gone up in smoke. Completely ruined.

No more photography for a while.

And yet, that’s exactly what happened to one of the actively participating photographers on Lenspiration back in June. After enquiring about it when I first heard the news, Naomi replied:

Yes, it has definitely been challenging and faith strengthening! It’s still a shock to walk back into our house sometimes. Yes, the entire house is unlivable . . . [And] you probably know that my camera and all my lenses and speed light were completely destroyed since they were at the site of the fire.

Last I heard, the camera, lenses and speedlite were scheduled with their insurance company, so she thinks she will get the amount she had each item scheduled for to put toward new equipment. But still, we all know that big pieces of equipment are not the only expenses in photography. And it only seems right that we should come together to help her out at least a little bit. She hasn’t asked for money, but I’ve set up a donation page where you can chip in something for Naomi if you’d like. 100% of the amount raised will go to Naomi:

Replacing Photography Equipment

Though lightning wasn’t the cause of the fire, I couldn’t help but link my thoughts of Naomi’s situation with some photos I took a couple weeks ago. The storm was just skirting the area. Close enough that I could see it from my backyard, but far enough away that not a drop of rain could be felt. A rare occurrence in hilly West Virginia.

210812_James Staddon_1355 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 6.0 sec at f - 4.0, ISO 100

This was really only the second time I have successfully been able to photograph lightning. It was kinda funny because it had been so long since I had used my wired remote that it wasn’t working properly when I pulled it out of the bag and plugged it in. I didn’t feel like there was time to run back down the hill and get something else, so I resorted to sitting there to patiently wait for my 6sec exposures to finish so I could quickly click the shutter again to get the next 6sec exposure started again. 30sec exposures would have been easier, and would have increased the chances of capturing multiple bolts in one phot, but that would have left the clouds looking too streaked.

210812_James Staddon_1340 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 24 mm, 15.0 sec at f - 11, ISO 100

The clouds had some really nice texture, though, so I tried to use as fast a shutter speed as possible, and then just merge them together later if desired.

210812_James Staddon_1363 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 15.0 sec at f - 5.6, ISO 200

As it turns out, I didn’t capture very many lighting bolts at all. And the one I liked the most actually didn’t need any merging at all!

210812_James Staddon_1351 W

Electrifying Fuse
My backyard in Salem, West Virginia
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It was the best lightning storm I had seen in a long time.

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