The photographer stood in a storm for three hours, capturing a total of 500 different exposures just to create one unique lightning strike photograph.
The photo received nearly 168,000 likes on Instagram. (Photo: Fernando Braga).
Last week, photographer Fernando Braga accidentally captured a lightning strike hitting the tallest statue of Jesus in Brazil as a sudden thunderstorm hit the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
In the image, the lightning hit the head of the 38-meter tall statue, creating a one-of-a-kind spectacle. The photo and video capturing this moment attracted over 20 million views, nearly 168,000 likes, and 3,156 comments.
The creator of this unique photograph is Fernando Braga. “The light of the divine!!! Friday!!! The photo was taken on February 10, 2023”, the photographer shared on Instagram.
He stated that he stood outside in the storm for three hours to capture this perfect moment. Due to popular demand, Braga even recorded a timelapse video of the lightning striking the statue, along with 500 other processed images, and continuously changed lenses throughout the shooting process.
On his personal Instagram account, Braga shared the story behind creating this historic image. He mentioned that the process wasn’t too difficult. He started shooting at 4 PM and finished at 8:30 PM. The lightning in the photo struck precisely at 6:55 PM.
“After three hours and 500 different exposures, this legendary photo was born. I lost count of how many days I practiced for this moment, and it still always seems futile. So, never give up”, the photographer shared.
Timelapse video documenting Braga’s lightning photo. (Photo: Fernando Braga).
Braga mentioned that he used a Nikon D800 camera with two lenses, a 70-200mm f/2.8 and a 70mm f/8, to successfully capture this moment. The rare photo was taken at a shutter speed of 13 seconds and an ISO of 100.
The photographer compiled a timelapse video from all the images he captured and created an Instagram Reel zooming in on the photo to clearly show the lightning striking the 38-meter tall statue of Jesus in Brazil.
“I faced many obstacles while trying to capture the exact moment the lightning hit the statue’s head. It was raining heavily, and the late-night hours almost discouraged me from continuing several times,” he shared.
Many users also marveled at this unique photograph and praised the photographer for capturing this golden moment.
“With today’s 4K 60 fps video technology, it’s not hard to capture such lightning shots; you just need to record the storm and choose the right frame at the moment you want. But this is still a very cool photo. Try capturing one like this with the Statue of Liberty”, one user commented.
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The Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is considered one of the most impressive architectural works in the world. This masterpiece is one of the tallest statues of Jesus globally. Standing at 38 meters tall on top of Corcovado Mountain, which rises 710 meters high and is surrounded by lush rainforest in Brazil, this statue ranks just behind Cristo de la Concordia in Bolivia (40m) and Christ the King in Poland (52m). However, being located on top of a mountain makes this structure susceptible to lightning strikes, and in fact, it has often served as a lightning rod throughout the year. In 2008, a major storm damaged the statue’s head, eyebrows, and fingers. Then, in 2014, lightning struck again, breaking one of the statue’s fingers. Consequently, authorities decided to repair the damage on another finger and the statue’s head from the previous lightning strike while also installing additional lightning rods near the statue. |
