With These Shots, Kind Of Got Lucky...And Didn't

 Two shots, two chances where luck helped capture the images...

Luck was involved, but more with one than the other.

I try to find interesting pictures for my Pic Of The Day. I freely admit, some photos are better than others. Last week I caught two images I liked a lot, one a shot of a lightning bolt during a summer storm, and the other, a photo of a dragonfly taking flight. Both required some "adjusting," but both turned out great.

The first, the picture of the dragonfly, I caught while in the backyard with the dog. As I waited for him to do this business, I spotted two dragonflies landing on some bamboo poles we have set up. They would hop from pole to pole as if fighting. I got out my phone and tried to get as close as possible to snap a picture before they flew away. Because my phone has a short video feature, it caught the dragonfly as it took off. I picked a frame as it just left the pole and that was my Pic Of The Day. 

The second shot was far easier to get.

We live at the top of a huge valley and when summer storms roll in, my wife and I like to go out to the front porch and enjoy nature's fireworks. That storm was amazing. The thunder was almost constant. I got out my phone and hit "Video." Then, I would record for a minute or so, the phone pointing to the east. I took maybe five videos and captured numerous lightning strikes.

Because it was a video, I didn't know if I actually caught any lightning bolts with my camera. I downloaded the videos, then went frame-by-frame stopping whenever the sky lit up. The one I used for that Pic Of The Day was my favorite. I guess it's easy to conclude I snapped a picture right as the bolt appeared, but I'm not that talented.

Two shots, both required a bit of luck, only one needed less luck than the other.