City snapper snaffles spectacular storm scenes

A Dunedin-based photographer has captured dramatic images of a thunderstorm, with lightning striking the sea off the city's coast.

Paul Le Comte used a lightning-tracking app on his phone to monitor the storm’s progress on Monday evening.

He positioned himself above Sandfly Bay on the Otago Peninsula to capture the spectacular shots.

“We do have lightning in Dunedin, but it can be really short duration like 10-15 minutes tops, but this one lasted a good hour or so,” Le Comte said.

“It was just a classic case of a cold front meeting a warm front and making its way up the South Island really lazily and slowly. It was quite spectacular.”

Taking his photos from the Karetai Track, above Sandfly Bay and Hoopers Inlet, Le Comte said the thunder was quite dramatic, and at times nerve-wracking to be out amongst.

The area was one that he has frequented to take photos of storms and the occasional Aurora Australis.

“You don’t want to be under a tree in a lightning storm, so I was able to put the boot up and photograph from under the boot of the Subaru, which is cool because there was some hail coming through intermittently so it was quite nice to be out of that.”

Despite managing to capture several spectacular shots, Le Comte said he missed just as many while trying to get his timing right.

Le Comte has been photographing landscapes around Dunedin for more than 20 years, and has been a freelance photographer for more than 15.