The troposphere is the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere and is about 8 kilometres thick at the poles and about 18 kilometres thick at the equator. Measured against the Earth's radius, this is only 0.3-0.7 ‰. This wafer-thin layer contains about 90% of the Earth's total air and is where most of the weather takes place.
Fig. 1: A summer lightning. Shot out of my sleeping room's window back in June 1991. — Minolta X-300, Kodak Ektar 25
Fig. 2: The partial solar eclipse of 10th May 1994 occured behind that particular cloud. A group of stargazer colleagues was exactly beneath it. Shot from top of Bachtel/ZH. — Minolta X-300, Fujichrome Velvia, 10 May 1994
Fig. 3: Stars above a cloud with lightning in it. — Ottikon/ZH, July 1997
Fig. 4: Orange glowing clouds during a sunrise. — Minolta XD-7, Braunwald/GL, September 1999
Fig. 5: A cloud above the horizon short before the rising solar eclipse on 31 May 2003 — Minolta X-700, 6.3/500mm reflecting tele, Fujichrome Provia 100F, Bachtel, Zürcher Oberland, 31 May 2003
Fig. 6: A lightning strikes the ground at the villa residence Hurden/SZ — Minolta XD7, 50mm lens at about f/2.8, some seconds exposure time, Kodachrome 64, August 2003
Fig. 7: Strange clouds after a heavy storm — Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8, Rapperswil, 18 July 2005
Fig. 8: Cirrus clouds at sunrise — Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 80-200mm 1:2.8, 24 September 2005
Fig. 9: Cirruscumulus clouds — Nikon D200, 2006
Fig. 10: Cumulonimbus clouds illuminated by the setting sun. — Nikon D200, Rapperswil, 2006
Fig. 11: A rainbow — Nikon D3, Nikkor AF-S 28-70mm 1:2.8, Brugg/AG, July 2009 — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=1/200 s; f=70 mm; f/7.1; ISO 800; 2009-07-24 19:53:42
Fig. 12: Clouds of a heavy storm that passed by Ybrig. — Nikon D3, Nikkor AF-S 28-70mm 1:2.8, Oberiberg/SZ, July 2009 — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=1/200 s; f=28 mm; f/7.1; ISO 200; 2009-07-27 19:48:17
Fig. 13: The shadow of the airplane on a layer of clouds. The colorful glory around the shadow is cased by the diffraction of light in small water drops, similar to a rainbow. I've enhanced saturation and contrast a bit to make te colours more distinct. — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/320 s; f=52 mm; f/9.0; ISO 200; 2009-01-04 15:10:59
Fig. 14: A double rainbow above the church in Windisch. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=1/125 s; f=70 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-07-09 19:23:20
Fig. 15: Lightning strikes between clouds during a small thunderstorm. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=10 s; f=25 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-07-13 0:32:54
Fig. 16: Lightning strikes far away. Unfortunately most thunderstorms just pass by and never hit my home town. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=10 s; f=200 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-08-18 20:30:35
Fig. 17: Small lightning strike in a cloud that didn't hit the ground. Brugg is really not a lightning hot spot. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=30 s; f=70 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-08-23 20:23:20
Fig. 18: Small lightning strike in a cloud that didn't hit the ground. Brugg is really not a lightning hot spot. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=30 s; f=50 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-08-23 20:50:12
Fig. 19: Finally a lightning strikes the ground. In the center the hill with the saddle is Lägern nearby Baden. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=10 s; f=70 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-08-24 19:43:46
Fig. 20: The first outcome of the thunderstorm season in 2012. Some thunderstorms occured during daylight where it is too bright for the long exposure interval shooting technique. Other lightings came after it was already raining heavily and I could not set up the camera. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=30 s; f=17 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2012-08-15 22:23:35
Fig. 21: Lighting strikes during a thunderstorm passing by. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=2 s; f=30 mm; f/16.0; ISO 200; 2012-02-20 20:24:36
Fig. 22: Lighting during a thunderstorm that didn't hit the ground. Most thunderstorms are passing by. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=10 s; f=56 mm; f/6.3; ISO 200; 2012-02-20 20:59:15
Fig. 23: Lighting strikes during a thunderstorm passing by. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=30 s; f=28 mm; f/6.3; ISO 200; 2012-02-20 21:45:38
Fig. 24: A small lightning from one cloud to another cloud. — EXIF: Nikon D3; Δt=30 s; f=28 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 2012-02-23 0:18:49
Fig. 25: Cloud formations shortly before a thunderstorm in the light of the setting evening sun. — iPhone 4, Brugg, 18 June 2013 — EXIF: iPhone 4; Δt=1/265 s; f=3.85 mm; f/2.8; ISO 80; 2013-06-18 21:25:27
Fig. 26: Cloud formations shortly before a thunderstorm in the light of the setting evening sun. — iPhone 4, Brugg, 18 June 2013 — EXIF: iPhone 4; Δt=1/200 s; f=3.85 mm; f/2.8; ISO 80; 2013-06-18 21:26:02
Fig. 27: Oh my god, it's a double rainbow! All the way! Woah. — EXIF: iPhone 5s; Δt=1/1001 s; f=4.1 mm; f/2.2; ISO 80; 2014-06-29 20:42:55
Fig. 28: Just a small boring thunderstorm missing Brugg as usual and disappeared from my point of view through the window. This picture was captured using MIOPS Smart Trigger which fires the camera only when it detects a lightning bolt. Very useful for daytime lighting photography and saving time in post processing. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=10 s; f=32 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2018-05-28 2:09:58
Fig. 29: Just a small boring thunderstorm missing Brugg as usual and disappeared from my point of view through the window. This picture was captured using MIOPS Smart Trigger which fires the camera only when it detects a lightning bolt. Very useful for daytime lighting photography and saving time in post processing. Now I just need a nice lancscape and luck to be on the right place at the right time. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=10 s; f=32 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2018-05-28 2:11:44
Fig. 30: On contrary to yesterday's thunderstorm this time there were at least some lightnings hitting the ground and not just all hidden behind the clouds. This picture was captured using MIOPS Smart Trigger. If possible I recommend to shoot at least for 1/4 second and choose ISO and stop to underexpose the background by ca 1 stop. Otherwise a lightning may be spread over multiple images or hardly visible because the background is too bright. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=1/4 s; f=31 mm; f/5.6; ISO 100; 2018-05-31 21:06:01
Fig. 31: Heavy thunderstorm over Zurich. Combination of three shots. Most of the lightning was only in the clouds and never reached the ground. Shot from Brugg. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=30 s; f=50 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2018-08-23 22:28:41
Fig. 32: Photographed from Brugg using MIOPS Smart Trigger. Unfortunately, it did not pass any closer. I still hope that lightning will strike the crane. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=1/4 s; f=52 mm; f/8.0; ISO 64; 2019-06-15 19:51:43
Fig. 33: Photographed from Brugg using MIOPS Smart Trigger. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=1/2 s; f=70 mm; f/2.8; ISO 1600; 2019-07-01 22:42:54
Fig. 34: Photographed from Brugg using MIOPS Smart Trigger. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=1/3 s; f=70 mm; f/2.8; ISO 3200; 2019-07-01 22:45:48
Fig. 35: Eine der wenigen Blitze, die nicht nur in den Wolken umher zuckten, sondern in den Boden einschlagen. Fotografiert von Brugg aus mittels MIOPS Smart Trigger. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=10 s; f=24 mm; f/4.5; ISO 100; 2019-07-07 4:26:51
Fig. 36: Eine der wenigen Blitze, die nicht nur in den Wolken umher zuckten, sondern in den Boden einschlagen. Fotografiert von Brugg aus mittels MIOPS Smart Trigger. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=10 s; f=24 mm; f/8.0; ISO 100; 2019-07-07 4:30:57
Fig. 37: Zwei der wenigen Blitze, die nicht nur in den Wolken umher zuckten, sondern in den Boden einschlagen. Der in der Bildmitte schlug irgendwo hinter der Lägern bei Baden ein. Fotografiert von Brugg aus mittels MIOPS Smart Trigger. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=10 s; f=24 mm; f/8.0; ISO 100; 2019-07-07 4:40:02
Fig. 38: Several shots superimposed on each other.
Fig. 39: The church of Windisch with many flashes in the background. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=20 s; f=70 mm; f/4.0; ISO 64; 2019-08-18 23:37:55
Fig. 40: August 1st Fireworks of a special kind: a few million volts are discharged in a flash. Most of the thunderstorm cell passed north of Basel. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=20 s; f=24 mm; f/4.0; ISO 64; 2020-08-02 0:03:13
Fig. 41: Finally it rained again after the dry, hot summer and thunderstorms could form. Most of the lightning happened between the clouds. None discharged to earth. — EXIF: Nikon D850; Δt=3 s; f=56 mm; f/5.6; ISO 800; 2022-09-14 21:01:26
