Chicago's towers provide a recognisable outline until lightning draws a second, brilliant structure over them. Craig Shimala's storm recordings make that change easy to see: the skyline remains steady while the bright channels appear for a moment above it. The collection includes a June 30, 2014 sequence and an earlier 2010 recording, giving viewers two separate examples from his work.
Two Chicago recordings with their own dates
The creator’s June 30, 2014 storm video combines footage and time-lapse highlights. The archive also links his earlier triple-strike recording. They are separate recordings, not two dates for the same event.
Photo: Colossal
The contemporary feature identified Willis Tower, Trump Tower and the John Hancock building. Those names locate the scene historically; they do not require a claim that the buildings remain the city's three tallest today. The skyline's value in the image is compositional as well as geographical, providing fixed points against which the fleeting lightning becomes easier to follow.
How exposure changes the lightning image
A storm seen over a city has a very different frame from lightning observed from orbit. Our lightning-photography feature also explains why multiple channels in a still image do not, without further context, establish exact simultaneity.
The skyline through different camera views
A still frame and a time-lapse answer different questions. A still lets the eye trace the visible channels, while a longer sequence shows how the storm's appearance changes around the buildings. Exposure duration matters when interpreting apparent simultaneity: several bright marks in one finished image do not by themselves establish that every discharge began at precisely the same instant.
The original post also included a fisheye presentation, which changes the geometry of the view while keeping the skyline as its subject. Comparing that version with the broader storm film shows how much framing contributes to the result. Shimala's credits and the two dated source links let the images remain attached to their recordings, rather than turning them into one undated lightning event or a claim about today's weather.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Craig Shimala
- Colossal
- My Modern Met
- Viral Nova
- Must Watch: Storm Chaser Films Himself Being Struck By Lightning
- 7 Epic Displays Of Lightning
- Close "clear-air" lightning bolt!
- Super Slow Motion Lightning Strike. 1 second in 3 minutes
- June 30, 2014 storm video
- earlier triple-strike recording
- lightning observed from orbit
- lightning-photography feature
No comments