How Lightning Works by Mark T. Woodland Photographing lightning can be a very exciting hobby. Capturing a lighting bolt on your Mavica is much more of a challenge than with a regular 35mm SLR, and it's fun to see one shot out of 50 that can be recognized as lighting. But before you dash out into the stormy night, you might want to know what you're up against.
Thunderstorms contain very strong electrical charges.
The water droplets, through friction, cause the lower part of a cloud to develop a negative charge. At the same time on the ground, a positive charge forms. The stepped leader is faintly visible every time it branches. This is called the process of ionization. In other words, the air pathway the lightning will take ionizes.