When I lived in North Western Australia, I started my journey into photography with my trusty 400D Canon and no idea. I bought photography magazines to try to learn. Back then there was no camera clubs up there like now. So I went in blind.
I remember driving to a party with a carton of beer in the front seat (I always had my camera with me then) when I saw in the distance lightning going off. It started a bush fire that had a mushroom cloud.
So I decided to drive to get as close to it as possible. It always seemed too far to photograph from the road. But I drove on. The only road heading in the same direction was the one from Port Hedland to Karratha. The storm ran parallel to the road. I was getting frustrated at seeing all the lightning and not taking photos. I sped on. HOLY SHIT......Cattle on the road. I hit the brakes. Bad move it was wet. I slid, somehow I manged to miss the cows and come to rest on the side of the road safely. Being young and stupid, I kept going, faster to try and catch the storm. Then I hit water on the road. Aqua plaining is just F@%%ing scary. You loose all traction and float above the road at speed. Thank goodness someone was watching over me. I managed to stay on the road. But my nerves were shot. 2 close calls like that were not to be taken lightly.
I stopped chasing.......I took a beer out of the carton and sculled. I set up my camera and took photos, on a tripod because I was shaking so much.
Result my first Lightning Photograph. Canon 400D f/5.6 ISO 100 Shutter speed 308seconds. About 11pm.