You’ll be shocked by these lightning pics (Storm chaser Christophe Suarez gives us the inside scoop on riding for lightning in Europe.)

He may not be able to move at 30km per second, but with the help of his tricked out camera equipment, Christophe Suarez can chase down lightning like few others. The French storm and nature photographer compiled a gallery of his favorite lightning shots for us – and told us a little bit about how he captured them.

 Storm and lightning photography has been a near life-long pursuit for the photographer. "Since a very young age, I've been fascinated by lightning. Each lightning strike is special – in the middle of the night, it brings to light a darkened landscape."

 

 While the results are spectacular, it presents challenges that normal photography does not – like the fact that you have no idea what your subject will look like, because, well, it doesn't appear until it's time to snap the shot. Says Suarez: "Since the position and the shape of lightning is unpredictable, I like to set a frame and let the nature create a composition."

 "The rules of compositions are similar to those for landscape photography," continues the photographer. "But the emergence of digital photography helps to push the limits of the photographer, and show weather phenomena such as we never would have imagined."

 "Some European storm-chasers would like to imitate their american counterparts, and use big cars with stickers everywhere. But overall, here, in Europe, it is not similar," says Suarez. "On one hand, the nature of our storms is a bit different. In spite of more violent storms the last few years, our storms are not equivalent to the violence of the American ones. Also, the road infrastructures are different and the traffic is very dense here. When you drive through small villages in Europe, I recommend leaving the huge 4x4 at home and drive a compact car!"
 

From the ground to the cloud

Timing is the most difficult part of the entire endeavour – timing both the lightning strikes, and the storms. "My equipment is always ready and I sometimes leave at the last minute, but, I prefer to prepare several days in advance. One week before, I perceive an opportunity on the weather models. A few days later, I have a good idea of the target. One day before, I choose the target. Just before my departure, one last quick glance on the weather models will confirm the choice. During the chase, in the field, I trust more on what I see and the weather radars than the models."
But, once he's there, he's still got to wait for lightning to strike

Big storm over Geneva