WHEN a storm rolled through Swan Hill on Sunday evening most of the town sought shelter, but not Stephen Dyer.
A resident with a passion for photography, Stephen ventured out to capture photos of the lightning as it moved over Swan Hill.
Armed with a camera and positioned overlooking the Murray River, Mr Dyer had a clear view of the storm as it moved towards him.
Mr Dyer said the key to capturing the photo was having the courage to do it.
“Lightning has been very close before and it is quite scary, he said
“Getting the photo isn’t exactly easy all the time and it can be quite frustrating with the strong winds and heavy rains causing problems.”
One of the photos, an overlay of numerous lightning strikes taken over a 25-minute period, was put together with photoshop to create a unique piece.
It was then uploaded to social media gaining widespread attention online with the Swan Hill community.
To be able to capture these photos Mr Dyer said he relies on weather apps on his phone where he is able to track the storms movement.
He then positions himself ahead of the storm in the hopes of capturing unique dramatic photos of storm activity that people may not see for themselves.
Using his layer system, Mr Dyer was able to portray just how much lightning struck the area within a 25-minute period in a spectacular way.
While his photos of the storms gained recent attention, Mr Dyer has previously focused more on the night sky.
“I have been doing photography since 2023 with night photography being my favourite,” he said.
“My focus has been on the milky way and stars which I love, but when a storm is forecast, that’s when I’ll mix it up and take photos of lightning.”
Mr Dyer’s said his storm photography comes with risks.
“I was down in Gippsland taking photos of lightning from a storm in the distance, right before one bolt hit above us moving horizontally through the sky,” he said.
“My hair raised in that moment and while it was mesmerising it was certainly scary.”
And that hair-raising experience was not just a figure of speech.
Scientifically, the electrical charge that builds up in the atmosphere before a lightning strike can create enough static energy to literally make a person’s hair stand up on end.
This is similar to the effect of static electricity from rubbing a balloon against your hair.
If you are interested in Mr Dyer’s photography head over to his Facebook page to look some more.
