A large storm descended upon areas northeast of Denver the evening of May 10. I had to use a tripod because of the slow shutter speed.

It was scary to be in the middle of a field with the lightning, the wind and the hint of tornados in the air.

Making the picture

• The challenge: Figuring out the best exposure time.

• The solution: The first frame I set at 13 seconds, the second frame I shot at 15 seconds, the third I shot at 20 seconds and so on. I was able to check and see where I needed to be exposurewise by reviewing the images I had shot on the camera's display. That is what is so great about digital photography.

• The gear: I shot this image with a Nikon D2H digital 35mm body, a 70mm lens (with a 70-200 mm Nikkor zoom). The aperture was set at F/5, and the shutter speed was 13 seconds to catch the lightning. I set the ISO of the disk to 800, which mimics 800 speed film.

Photo by Judy Walgren walgrenj@RockyMountainNews.com