What are the odds?

From my last post it's fair to say that a good lightning shot is a one in a million chance that takes some know how, timing and a little bit of luck.

Make that 2 in a million.

A contact of mine, the uber talented Thunder Bay photographer Jeannie Paul was able to capture the same bolt of lightning that I did, all be it from a different location at the exact same moment in time (9:37 pm).



When I first saw her shot on the local Flickr group I thought it was a joke.

Not only did she capture the exact same bolt of lightning within a split second but from two entirely different vantage points and no communication between the two of us, we were both able to compose our shots in an almost identical manner.

The only real difference in the shots is that while mine was taken from atop the hill at the scenic lookout, Jeannie shot hers from her house which is just down the hill to the left, perhaps even visible in my shot were I to look for it.

I think it's entirely amazing given all of the localized lightning strikes on the night that two separate people at two separate locations could manage to pull off almost identical shots. It's baffling. Prior to shooting my shot I had been panning the lens north to south, south to north, following the most concentrated strikes particularly those off to the extreme left of my shot (northeast). For whatever reason I panned back to my right (southeast), noticed the Sleeping Giant slightly illuminated from behind by sheet lightning and hastily attempted to frame it into the shot in almost complete darkness.

Who'd have thought at that exact moment Jean was doing the same thing from a literal stones throw away.

The odds were astronomical. And somehow completely possible.
If one could call that luck or chance then I am going to go and buy a lottery ticket.

Congrats to Jean on an equally remarkable capture. Truly a two in a million shot.