Fishing for Lightning: How to Capture Magic in a Box

by Miguel Cedillo

My first attempt to capture lightning in September of 2007. This frame was the strongest of the three hour session.

With all the recent thunderstorms over Omaha I’ve tended to stay home a lot more. As many people are inclined to do on rainy days I take to quiet, enjoyable pastimes, and my favorite is photographing lightning. Lately, I’ve realized that I wouldn’t enjoy it at all if I didn’t have a well-built passion for fishing. For me, the process of fishing and my method of photographing lightning have remarkable similarities. 

If you’ve ever gone fishing before, you know that it requires a positive attitude, patience, resilience, and an appreciation for the natural world. For many fishermen the experience of sitting still, repeating one’s efforts and engaging in the peaceful process are what it’s all about. When you set out to photograph lightning, the requirements and experience are deeply related. You have to be patient, you have to repeat the attempt over and over again without immediate results, and your heart, body and mind need to stay open to the joys of watching the water move while the clouds go by. You also have to be able to smile when you get wet. 

Shooting lightning is relaxing and fun for me, but just like with fishing I would never have success at it if I didn’t follow a few simple rules. The following tips are how I’ve been able to catch lightning in the past:

1. Be Safe: Some of us are big risk-takers, but gambling with lightning is fatally dangerous. Always try to set up under good cover. Try to find space from the rainfall, otherwise you’ll need rain covers for you and your gear.  If you’re exposed and/or at a higher elevation, your body and metal equipment make a great lightning rod, so a rubber mat is a good idea. When your hairs begin to stand straight up and the lightning is happening right above you, it’s time to go.

2. Prepare and Anticipate: As a photographer you have to commit yourself to getting the image you’re after, so give yourself a fighting chance. Set up a composition you truly like with a tripod, compromising between the prettiest corners and the hottest direction of lightning strikes. Make sure your batteries are fully charged and keep a lens cleaning kit handy. Then, get comfortable with a good chair and your beverages of choice. 

I was lucky enough to get this mild strike after about 90 minutes in to the 15 hours of "fishing" during June 2011.

3. Keep Your Shutter Open: The odds of successfully reacting to a lightning strike and pressing the shutter on time are overwhelmingly against the photographer, so what can we do? With an SLR and off a heavy tripod I run 30 second exposures over and over again, sometimes for six hours before getting an exceptional image. I recommend running these long exposures as frequently as possible, or using a manual cable release for the shutter. The manual cable shutter is even better than 30-second repetitions because you can expose the frame for as long as your thumb lasts, and I wish I had one. Don’t be afraid to crank the aperture down to 1/22 or deeper because the lightning will blast light everywhere and you’re going to want the depth for a sharper sky, unless you want to get bold and put in the work for shallow apertures and close foregrounds. Also, you won’t need much ISO.

 If I had not been reviewing my monitor when this occurred there would be twice the amount of bolts in the frame, but even so my set-up made this "keeper" possible.

4. Stay Positive and Diligent: The most incredible lightning strikes I have ever seen are the ones I didn’t catch on camera. Avoid the temptation to “chimp” over your frames, reviewing them on the monitor instead of keeping the shutter open. Yes, pressing the button over and over again, sitting in a chair and feeling stuck there can make one restless, but the reward of the successful moment is worth committing to. Capturing a mild strike or solid flashes offers wonderful contrast in the clouds, and this is just like getting a “bite” or a “nibble”. Activity in the frame is a good sign, meaning you’re casting your equipment in the right direction. Landing that big fish or strong frame is incredibly inspirational and makes the process worthwhile, and that’s what can make it peaceful and enjoyable if you’re open to the challenge. It’s a victory you have to experience to understand, and with enough dedication you will literally capture lightning in a box. You have to really want it, and have some love for the process of getting it.                

Good luck!

Loom spins world music, weaves Omaha culture

by Miguel Cedillo. Photos by Lucas Marshall.

Carnaval dancers don Buf Reynolds' feathered headdresses and Brazilian party-wear at Loom.

The scene is Brasil’s Carnaval, hosted by loom at Nomad Lounge. From the heart of the dense black noise of the place gone mad, hot red flashes lit swaying faces and limbs in all directions to deep rhythmic drum booms like a slow-motion beehive of entranced figures in strobes blaring samba whistles. Waving silhouettes of beautiful women in feathered headdresses shimmied and towered over endless motion against the projector screen and dim brick wall accents highlighting crowded couches. The central bar swirled and fluctuated with crowds where Nomad staff ran fervent laps to resist and subdue the invasion behind more women in tall headdresses, all of which were constructed by local fashion designer Buf Reynolds, parading on the bar top in their Brazilian regalia. Without warning a massive pocket emerged in the huddled ocean of humans as break-dancers and capoeira fighters made a spectacle and became surrounded, everyone drinking, dancing, embracing and gyrating in ecstasy under glittering masks and paint of all colors, smiling.  

          Spinning to the right and up above the bar, loom DJ Brent Crampton stoically checked the mix in his left ear, nodding to the beat slowly like the puppet master cast in an eerie green glow above the enchantment he spurned. The beat shifted and he set his headphones down. Taking a step back he began to turn slowly, focusing on the crowd for a full 360 degrees to proudly and humbly observe his creation. He completed his circle and took only a moment before going straight back to the headphones.

“I could see everyone was dancing,” Crampton explained. “The entire room was the dance floor.”

Brent Crampton absorbs the crowd and colorful atmosphere from the DJ booth.

Perhaps best known for their culturally themed dance parties and worldly drum line led by Mark Hinrichs on that night, loom has been acting as a catalyst for diversity and dancing since 2006 when the college-aged crowd was beginning to say, “Really? Dance party?”

Since then, Omaha has seen a tremendous increase in dance party frequency and attendance. Effectively, the Omaha dance party has created a consistent social following with regulars, a platform of multiculturalism, a lucrative network of artistry, a strategic revenue source for venues and grounds for the common social purposes of music and the dance floor. Business owners seem to recognize the demographic force that has unfolded and have opened their doors to more DJs and events each year. In turn, loom has earned their place as pioneers of the current Omaha dance party, now a bone fide social phenomenon.  
         Over the past few years, Omahan’s have solidified dance parties as a cultural movement that draws large young crowds into formidable dance floors all over town, subsequently forming a growing community of party-goers, artists, students, urban professionals and good-timers from all backgrounds and corners of the globe, simply known to many as “the dance party crowd.” Loom and the general dance party phenomenon have become staples of the city’s nightlife and art scene, with other local musicians like Terrance Pree, Jacob Thiele, Serka and Dorion of Enso, Masaris, and Kobrakyle bringing solid numbers to local businesses through well-planned events like Slowdown’s “Goo,” The Waiting Room’s “Gunk,” and a host of other dance party concepts and promoters. Thus, young people and the arts community have inadvertently taken the reins on competitions in local markets, and DJs have become a hot commodity.

The crown example of the cultural movement and social force that has taken hold transpired when loom hosted their Brasilian Carnaval celebration at Nomad Lounge, marking their highest loom attendance ever, set to the brilliant fervor of South America’s largest country and party in a signature Omaha venue. Despite cold winds and intimidating lines, over 900 Omahan’s circulated from the condensed entryway and into the dizziness of the great sound.

“We originally predicted about four to five hundred to show up and we were beyond excited about that. We had no idea it was gonna be so huge,” admitted Crampton. “Usually at a large event something goes wrong. It only takes one percent of people to ruin it, but everything went off without a problem. Everyone came together to celebrate—it was pure happiness.”

The south side of the bar makes way for competing dancers.

The Carnaval event was not only significant because of its theme + record attendance, but also because it took place less than two weeks before Loom will celebrate its fifth anniversary of bringing people together. The development of the loom organization so far is a story many Omahan’s have yet to learn, however the discussion of its origins, mission, and accomplishments has already inspired much of the community. What makes Brent Crampton and loom so unique among ample local talent is the pivotal role they played in developing Omaha’s current dance party culture through a specific vision, which they have maintained from the start.

At the beginning of loom’s journey into the heart of local culture, Brent Crampton was only hoping to address “a few basic needs.” The organization, co-founded by Crampton & Jay Kline started as a group of artistic minds that sought to redefine musical perceptions and community dynamics in 2006. In a crash course of electronic music and his own history, Crampton recognized that in the early 2000s, Omaha electronic music fans were “a post-rave generation demographic mostly made of middle to upper class Caucasians, and we wanted to change that.”

 The young DJ’s musical palette was evolving, though, as he was learning more about the history of electronic music from his mentor, a DJ from San Francisco named Jack Heart. Crampton wanted to explore beyond the house genre and Heart exposed him to electronic music’s roots, namely disco. To the eagerly learning DJ, the musical elements of disco became equally important to the diverse parties that arose and the way those parties indefinitely changed the socio-cultural landscape of New York City in the 70’s and early 80’s. Books like “Keep on Dancing: My Life in Paradise Garden” by Mel Cheren unveiled to Crampton the cultural context of the disco party in the true metropolis of New York, and those parties became the main inspiration for loom.

“There was a certain brand of disco parties that became huge gatherings for the non-mainstream. They provided a communal space. African-Americans, Latinos, artists, gay, rich and poor alike had that one place, one spot you could go to for that release on the dance floor. It answered a social need. Loom celebrates a wide range of music and a diverse atmosphere inspired by early disco parties and places like Paradise Garage, The Loft, The Gallery—basically the underground disco scene in New York and the social platform of equality and common expression.”

Crampton became further inspired to explore music history from the axis of disco, learning its heritage in danceable R&B, funk, soul, jazz, and blues, which led him into the history of African music and then forward in time to the slave trade of the Americas, when the infusion of African and Latin percussion flourished with regional distinctions, all of which boasted unique geographical origins from the African continent and locally made instruments. Much of loom’s world-music inspiration originates in the personal research of Brent Crampton and other loom musicians, all of whom share a love for innovation and historical relevance to create unifying celebrations.

Percussionist Mark Hinrichs keeps the party moving in the north side of Nomad Lounge.

“Music lineage opened my palette to the world as a DJ. All those things coming together from every corner of time and the world make the dance floor a sanctuary, a safe place. When immigration protests and public school segregation made national news, people were looking at Omaha as a hub of racism. In talking to community leaders it became clear that in many ways, there is a high level of underhanded racial division; transportation, geography, power structures. Lots of individuals and organizations are trying to change the tide. While you can get folks to live next to each other, go to school together or work together, at the end of the day they don’t have to like each other. That’s where loom comes in on a small and humble perspective. By celebrating a certain theme, we can target a demographic, pull ’em into the party and have them join us any time. The themes are fun and help us attract every group we can to make every party diverse. Hopefully the social perspective at loom goes beyond the dance floor. We want to use art, music and dance as a platform for building relationships.”

As loom commences its fifth year of cultural leadership, the next five years look intriguing and bright. The group aims to take the social message of loom with them from dance floor and apply it to the community in a hands-on approach through volunteering, race-relation dialogues and building relationships with community organizations. While paying tribute to music history, they also strive to “pay attention to the now and continue to capture minds.” Crampton addresses the importance of adapting to demographics over time and notes how loom is continuing to seek young blood for the next generation of DJs, like their newest resident, Kethro. There is even mention of a potential music venue owned and operated by loom somewhere in Omaha’s future. Although the challenges will grow as loom and the emergent Omaha dance party culture increase in community stature, Crampton remains optimistic about the cultural movement, the organization of loom and his personal future.

“My life’s purpose is to bring people together, and loom is the greatest manifestation of the vehicle I’ve created for that. To see that it’s having a positive effect and helping people build relationships is everything to me, it verifies my purpose.”

Crampton paused, laughed quietly to himself with his head down and emerged with a confident glare and a huge smile.

“I don’t have to worry about losing my job. There are a few human needs and dancing is one them.”

Brent Crampton keeps the beat alive above the huddled masses at Nomad Lounge.

On Thursday, March 3, Loom will celebrate its fifth anniversary at España Tapas Bar in Benson (6064 Maple St.) with an art gallery opening from photographer Daniel Muller and music selections from Stephen Bils at 8 pm. The dancing begins at 9 pm with a live time lapse photo booth and limited edition anniversary shirts for cash purchase. Cover is $5 and 21+ for the dance party from 9pm to 2am. Call España at 402-505-9217 for dinner reservations.