Photographer Barry Butler is known for capturing all sides of his beloved city of Chicago. In late July, when he heard that a lightning storm was coming through, he seized the opportunity. And he was lucky enough to come away with a stunning photo of three bolts of lightning simultaneously hitting the Sears Tower, John Hancock Tower, and Trump Hotel.
Butler knew, given the amount of lightning, that a triple strike was probable, he just needed to be ready. “There was so much lightning for a three-hour period that I almost got tired of shooting,” he tells My Modern Met.
Butler decided to stay with a wide composition in order to maximize his chances of capturing a triple lightning strike. Luckily, his patience was rewarded. While his incredible photo may seem like a composite, that’s not the case. The bolts of lightning in the image all occurred at the same time and were captured in one frame.
And while Butler took a lot of stunning images during the lightning storm, nothing tops this masterpiece. “We have free entertainment thanks to Mother Nature,” he reminds us. “Whether it’s a sunrise, sunset, or storm, there is always something that you can be amazed by.”
Funnily enough, Butler’s plans to photograph the storm were almost foiled by Ed Sheeran. Butler had tickets to the British singer’s concert that night, and throughout the show, would check radar reports to see when the storm would hit. Luckily, Sheeran finished right on time, allowing Butler to make his way to a building with a good view of the Chicago skyline and take his position before Mother Nature’s concert began.
See more images Butler took during this incredible lightning storm in Chicago.
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