E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Photography requires a great amount of patience. Nobody knows that better than Jay Fine. After more than 40 years as a photographer, he recently captured the images above.
On the evening of Sept. 22, Fine headed down to lower Manhattan's Battery Park, which has a nice view of the Statue of Liberty.
With his Nikon D300 and 60mm f2.8 lens in hand, the 58-year-old snapped more than 80 photos over two hours. He struck gold with the above photo around 8:45 p.m.
“I had been watching weather reports so I knew a storm was coming and it just seemed like a great opportunity," he told the U.K.'s Daily Mail. "It was pure luck really, a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The photo alone was not lucky; New York has endured violent storms this fall. Just a few days earlier, a storm that spawned two tornadoes killed a woman in Queens, around eight miles from where this image was taken. Just last night a severe thunderstorm dropped hail on Brooklyn and delayed the New York Jets game against the Minnesota Vikings.
According to the National Parks Service, the copper-clad statue gets struck many times each year. Just how many is not known. Standing 305 feet, one inch tall, the conductive construction makes it a structure of choice for lightning strikes.
We've collected an impressive gallery of lightning photos for your viewing pleasure, which we hope you'll take a look at HERE.
UPDATE 10/13/2010 11:15am EST: Many of our readers have speculated over whether lightning is actually striking the statue, or possibly the water behind. When the post was written yesterday, there wasn't a clear answer. So in an attempt to put an end to the debate, we spoke directly with Mr. Fine himself, and he's just as curious as you are.
"I can't tell," he said. "I'll leave it up to the meteorologists and National Parks Service to make that call."
Leave a Comment:
HOW COOL CAN YOU GET ????? It's really a pretty picture, scary to be there at the time, but it's very pretty....brovo to the photographer....WOW !!!!
This is truely an awsome picture, but at closer look, did it actually hit the statue or is it the angle of the picture and the lighting hit in the distance behind the statue?
It's simply an awesome shot to capture it close or far...it's art!
I have made a conclusion on the lightning actually hitting the statue or not. I say it was NOT hit by lightning.
The reason of WHY I say that is for one thing, if it were struck by lightning, there would be electric bolts going around it (possibly). For a second thing, look CLOSELY to the WATER! It's lit up from underneath the surface; it is being lit up from the lightning striking it and producing electricity from in the water. If thats the case then it is being struck in the water not on the statue! If you disagree with me then I'm sorry about it, but if a scientist could agree with me ,and I'm just in ninth grade for the record, I make a pretty damn good teen look like a professor in ninth grade man! Comment on my comment and see if I agree with you even more from your perspectives.
WOW!!! What an amazing sight. Diligence paid off again.
True.
Regardless of whether or not the lightning actually hit Lady Liberty, that is an awesome picture. Maybe next time someone might like to volunteer to go up to the crown and see if she actually gets struck or not. Just a thought....
Didn't hit the statue. I call it as I see it. To claim differently is fraud (or misrepresentation) of some sort.
I know the photog and he has NEVER said the lightning hit the statue. It didn't. Press again extrapolates for hyperbole. Regardless, the photo is an amazingly great shot. So let's calm down and acknowledge the beauty of the image.
man... hate to bust the bubble.. but a quick look on lightning striking water photos clearly shows huge reflections off the water. This photo only shows a shadow of lady liberty. BUT.... its a sweet photo none the less, and even rarer to have one hit behind the statue at the right angle to look like that
Interesting pic. But, the lightening clearly hit the water behind the statue and not the statue itself. Keep trying, Mr. Woods.
If you'd quit looking for something negative to say about something cool, you might notice Mr. Woods wasn't the photographer, it was Mr. Fine.
Thanks for writing dtbrown. When we posted this we avoided stating that lightning struck the statue. And after I spoke with Mr. Fine today, even he's not sure where it hit (see update in text above).
I loved the photo! It looks surreal.
That is an awesome picture! Congrats on finally getting the picture you've been waiting for!
Yes, and claiming someone made a representation when they didn't is called being an a$$ hole. I've read the article thoroughly and don't see anywhere that Mr. Fine says that the lightning hit the Statue. The article is titled " Lighting Up Lady Liberty ", which clearly happened. No surprise that a bunch of loudmouth lemmings yap about something they jumped to a conclusion about - happens all the time.
Don't think the guy was restricting himself as to the statue being struck directly. I imagine he was waiting for themost spectacular shot. After 40 years, he must have at least ONCE seen a direct hit. Maybe it wasn't as spectacular as this shot. The lightning bolt in this shot is freaking massive. I'd bet that it's great size, it's brilliant illumination of everything plus the alignment of the bolt with the torch were the combination of factors he considered ideal.
Great shot!!! There are no representations that it hit the statue. It's a beautiful photo that lights up the statue. Excellent photography!
@Realist-846893: True, the article title is Lighting up Lady Liberty, but all other references including Yahoo's home page and even the links here in photoblog say, " Lightning strikes the Statue of Liberty in New York on Sept. 22." Very misleading, but again... impressive photo
Phenomenal shot. Which building did he shoot it from? No doubt a tripod and a slave unit, too.
It didn't hit the statue but hey........ look at it on the bright side, it would made a good post card!
WOW!!!! What an electrical scene...no pun intended.
Man that is a photo worth waiting 40 years for.....great shot excellent I am happy for the photographer Jay Fine.
He finally got his wish great shot and with the help of mother nature as well.
cheers mate...
Before anyone else gets on a soapbox about the lightning not hitting the statue, let me repeat what I replied to a commenter below:
I know the photog, and he has NEVER said the lightning hit the statue. It didn't. Press again extrapolates for hyperbole. Regardless, the photo is an amazingly great shot. So let's calm down and acknowledge the beauty of the image.
True.
Great pics, and just so there is no argument's about lightning...momma always said;
The simple answer is that lightning comes from the sky. But if we are to dig deeper, we are to find that lightning really comes from lightning bugs. At certain times of the year, lightning bugs will fly high up into the clouds. This is a lightning bug's mating ground-the clouds.
This is why many times before you observe a single lightning bolt striking the ground, you will see the clouds lighting up in the night sky. Flashes of light, here and there within a single cloud or series of clouds is a sign of lightning bugs mating. This is because the lightning bugs are doing their mating dance, causing excitement and friction and an increase in static electricity within the clouds.
In time, the lightning bug mating dance will reach a fever pitch and the light and energy may not be contained any more. Collectively, lightning bugs will flash at the same time and as this flash becomes more precise and intense a great energy builds up in the clouds that must be released. Finally, the energy needs to escape and a bolt of lightning is sent from the clouds to the ground below, connecting heaven and earth, lightning bugs and power stations, statues of liberty energy with matter.
Where does lightning come from? The sky. And the rest is simply magic.
Hit or no hit its a priceless shot!
Oh! SHE is just Beautiful...and the Lightning-Fantastic ! ! !
It is one of the most awesome lighting photos I have ever seen! You can see where the lightning hits the mainland, but so what? The angle was perfect and it is a shot worth waiting for! Great job well done! I think an actual stike wouldn't have been as dramatic. :)
What awesome photos of Lady liberty with the lightning behind her.
zzzzzzappp!!!!!! truly awesome picture
I thought it was supposed to come alive and start walking around downtown Manhatten. I guess Ghostbusters was wrong.... :(
WIN!
Very Cool!!!