In 25 years of photojournalism there are things you always want to do... but somehow never get around to them. One of those for me was a nice shot of lightning. A personal favorite and a personal challenge.

Living on the East Coast of the US, we see a lot of lightning in the summer, but never really have a clear shot of it like in the Midwest. So a few weeks ago, while our Blue Pixel team was running a one-week digital photography summit for Best Buy, I stood on my hotel balcony in Colorado Springs and shot a rare treat for me. Lightning.

I know many people shoot lightning all the time, and formulas abound on the internet and in photo books. But with only moments to shoot as this storm rolled over Cheyenne Mountain, I put the camera on f8, into manual mode, and just held the shutter open for 15 seconds, one shot after another. The only problem was that I had no tripod, so using the balcony railing was my only choice.

For someone who has photographed the last 4 Presidents, this shot excited me as much as any old peace signing or campaign stop!

The lesson? Take a chance, and keep shooting, even when you think it won't come out.