It was a dark and stormy night. . .

You may have already seen this photo that has gone viral in the past two days. It's eight bolts of lightening striking San Francisco's Bay Bridge during a very rare for our area lightening and thunder storm. By any standards it was a significant storm but I can't remember the last time I've ever seen lightening like this and I've lived here for 25 years!

I was on Highway 101 South driving through Mountain View when the lightening started. It lit up the entire sky with multiple bolts all coming down at the same time. I thought to myself "This would make an awesome photograph" but it was cold, dark, and raining buckets so it didn't seem like stopping was a good idea even though I had my camera with  me. I also lacked a skyscraper, McGrew was on the 29th floor of his apartment building, and having an iconic bridge handy so my best shot wouldn't have ever come close to this.

From what I've gleaned in articles and a television interview I just watched, McGrew set his camera on a tripod, used auto focus and set up an continuous 20 second long exposures for approximately 2 hours. He also used his iPad as he said in this interview with NBC 11's Scott Budman ". . .checking apps like "Lightning Finder" (as cool as it sounds) while he uses mathematics to determine the best angles and timing for his shots."

WOW. Very happy for him he was able to capture what may now be the most famous image of the Bay Bridge. Ever!