Photographer Captures Lightning Striking Christ the Redeemer Statue
A photographer describes his photo of lightning striking the Christ the Redeemer Statue as a “dream come true.”
Fernando Braga captured the astonishing image of the iconic landmark in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 10.
“Indescribable…Maybe, just unbelievable,” Braga tells PetaPixel. “Like a dream come true.”
Braga took to his Instagram page to describe the hard work, dedication, and patience it takes to capture such a special shot.
“After about three hours with the camera taking a sequence of more than 500 long exposure photos, finally this long-awaited photo appeared,” he says.
“On many other (countless) days and moments I did the same and nothing. But that’s what it is, it’s part of it and we always have to move forward trying. It’s like that in everything.”
Before adding: “Never give up.”
Braga used a Nikon D800 with two different lenses: a 70-200mm f/2.8 and a 70mm at f/8. The winning shot was a 13-second exposure with the camera set to ISO 100.
Braga made the above timelapse of all of his photos showing his persistence as he persevered through the bad weather for almost two and a half hours in search of the remarkable photo.
“The photo is in its entirety just cropped in 4×5 format and with reduced exposure by 0.5. Nothing else,” he adds
Braga made an Instagram Reel zooming in on the photo to illustrate how perfectly the massive lightning bolt struck the 125-foot statue of Jesus Christ.
“Many thwarted attempts to catch the lightning falling on Christ,“ he says. “Lots of rain and days have gone by, I got close a few times, but never made it to Christ.”
Indeed the Rio de Janeiro weather was very bad on Friday with heavy weather and plenty of lighting.
Braga also captured a bolt of lightning striking the nearby Sumarè antenna.
More of Braga’s work can be found on his Instagram and website.
Image credits: All photos by Fernando Braga.
