A Message From Above: Dramatic Lightning Storm Over Johannesburg

Alexius van der Westhuizen, a 46-year-old real-estate agent, captured the dramatic thunderstorm over the skies of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Each picture is a composition of dozens of images taken during three-hour sessions over the course of the summer.

Lightning strikes are layered over each other to give the impression the sky is erupting with dozens of bolts at once. 

Alexius used a DSLR camera and a remote camera release to control the shutter to capture the strikes on stormy evenings.

Choosing his favourite images from the shoot, he then imported the images into a computer program which then merged layers to create one explosive picture.

He said: "I use a remote and keep the shutter open for around four seconds or until I get a strike

"Only one out of about every four photos will have a strike in it.

"I am very excited when I get a strike and quickly look on the LCD on the back of the camera, sometimes out the corner of my eye I see a big strike that I missed because I was too eager to look at the image.

"I shoot hundreds of pictures during a storm.

"I select the most interesting strikes, or those that complement each other, to import into the computer program.”

The results are incredible images that show the fearsome power of nature.

Johannesburg is hit by electric storms every day during the summer months from November to March.

It is a welcome, yet dramatic respite to the blistering heat.