This shot was particularly challenging as it was taken at 8.45 pm with no artificial lighting-- except for the beacon, which shines behind the kilauea lighthouse. All of the other light in this photo comes from three lightning flashes over one 25 second exposure...
I went out the intention of photographing the lighthouse and lightning bolts, but the lightning strikes were of the cloud-to-cloud variety so i took another approach. I decided to gather light from multiple lightning flashes and use that to light the lighthouse and kilauea point against the ocean and sky. It was incredibly difficult finding enough light to enable the auto focus so that the lighthouse was sharp and clear. It was just too dark for me to manually focus on the lighthouse with any clarity. I tried and tried, but nothing came out sharp. So I waited and waited for the storm to get closer. I waited for the perfect blast of lightning-- one that would be both close enough and bright enough to provide sufficient light for the auto focus to pick up detail in the lighthouse and "focus" where I wanted. And I got it. Once focused, i then turned off the auto focus and tried several shots at various timed exposures, hoping to get several flashes of lightning in one exposure. well, my plan worked, and after three and a half hours in the rain and storm, i got the shot. The reward was well worth the difficulty.
Kilauea Lighthouse and Refuge, Kauai, Hawaii

Photo taken with Canon EOS 5D Mark III, f/2.8 @135mm, 25s, ISO 800, No Flash.

HAWAIIMagazine.com Award Winner, December 2012.

***Limited Edition Metal Prints-- all sizes-- SOLD OUT. Mahalo!