A few days ago I posted a photo I've called "God's Flash". After reading the comments I've decided to post a step-by-step. This is how I do it, but others may have different or better(?) techniques.
1- Camera on tripod
2- Set shutter speed to BULB
3- Open the shutter until you see a flash, and then close the shutter.
4- Repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times as necessary.

NOTE: I'm of the opinion that it's not a good idea to keep the shutter open for a really long time as the sensor heats up, which makes for noisy images. So, I have made it a RULE OF MINE to close the shutter after about 30 seconds. However, as often happens, a bolt will happen the split second AFTER I close the shutter. So, it's try, try again.
Hope this helps and show us what you get!

I lived in colorado for five years, they get lightning on a regular basis .. and, using a 35mm film camera with cable release .. I never came away with a quality shot

and I've done fireworks numerous times with excellent results ..


so .. I smiled at your instructions

Yes, Keifer, it is definitely a challenge, but what fun when it comes out right!!

I can only speak to Fireworks, and they never seem to impress like a lightning strike .. ;o) .. where I live in California doesn't get lightning very often

for me, it's the big one that got away

(*looks both ways .. whispers*) .. now, I'll just use a photshop plug in .. ;o)

A pro photographer told me that to get a really good fireworks photo, he would leave the shutter open and hold a hat (forexample) in from of the lens... then take it away for a second or two when a nice one went off... then put it bakc... and keep doing this for a while. The effect is that you would get a shot that looked like a sky full of many firewors (when in fact they had really gone off seperately). I have never tried the technique but it sounded like it made sense.

in California, the typical fireworks display is, shall we say, one column, shot straight up .. back in the mid-eighties I shot the Bay Bridge's 50th Birthday (in San Francisco Bay) and that was from 3 barges .. so the display was wider than I was used to .. I didn't use a hat .. but you can hear the shot being fired (if you're close enough)

but .. back to lightning ;o) .. the thing with lightning is that little bit of danger .. you and your tripod might be the tallest thing in your area .. California just doesn't get thunderstorms often enough to perfect a technique

Samatar,
I have used this technique several times and have never been disappointed. Also, using the "clone" tool I can "move" individual displays from pic to pic.

For my lighting images, I find a wide open area with no obstructions, usually the beach. I use a digital camera, set to manual, moderate size apperture, focused to infinity (I will use the moon or a really distant light to set the focus) @1 second exposure (to keep the grain down) in continuous shot mode on a tripod, that's the best way I have found to take lightning shots.There are several examples of that method in the my gallery. (A really good lightning bolt will usually strike when you are clearing the unwanted images from your memory card, Murphy's law in effect.)

I tried that technique I mentioned with the hat but it didn't make my shutter stay open any longer (I guess I wasn't obscuring the light well enough). But I did get a few good shots by just leaving the lens open as long as I found it possible to do: Fireworks.

Samatar,
Set the camera on the "B" setting and, if possible (that is, if the shutter on your camera has the capability of being released with a cable release) use the cable release. When using the "B" setting the shutter will stay open for as long as you have the release depressed.

I have a wireless remote but no cable release... not sure if I have a B setting or not... I'll probably have to refer to my instruction manual (which is the size of a phone book :-P)

You still shot with a d70 sam? If so, set your dial thing to M and then dial up your shutter speed toward 30 sec. On manual it will allow you to go past 30 sec to bulb. Then set your camera to remote, and push the remote. The shutter will open and stay open until a) you push the remote again, or b) the battery dies, or possibly c) a very very long time that i have never reached because my battery always dies first as i don't have a power cable.

...30 mins is actually the max bulb setting (for the d50 at least, should be the same as the 70).

I'll make mental note to remeber to read this next time I'm about to photograph fireworks...

I found that shorter shutters were nice for firework photography. It is along the same principle that pictures of the night sky should either be really short or really long, depending on whether you want streaks or pricks, because if you are in the middle, you will get blurred dots. I took a lot of pictures last 4th of July and developed a few techniques that seemed to work. I would get the best results with a 2-3 second shutter - any shorter, and there wouldn't be enough action; any longer, and the smoke clouds would be too light up to appear as black (/nonexistent).

Here is a sample of one of my shots. The biggest trick I learned, though, was to have the shutter open when the firework went off. It is that central, bright blossom of an explosion that really counts in the photo. The funny part is that I was right on the bank of the river that they were shooting them over and I only had my one 100mm lens. Kinda close for standard shots.