Storm chaser Michael Keene is no stranger to lightning, but even he was shocked by what he saw during a recent storm that hit the Illawarra.
While photographing lightning near Robertson in the Southern Highlands, he noticed something unusual out of the corner of his eye.
"I saw the [Knights Hill broadcast] towers get hit and I couldn't believe it, so I aimed that way," he said.
But this was not the usual lightning from the sky striking something on land — it was happening in reverse.
What he was seeing was rare "upward lightning" – a bolt seemingly charging out from the tip of the broadcast transmission towers and splaying across the sky.
"I'd never seen it before so it's a first for me and I wasn't expecting it," he said.
"I was ecstatic I captured something so rare in this area.
"It happens every now and then and there's not many examples of people capturing it."
How does it happen?
According to the Royal Meteorological Society, upward lightning happens when there is a nearby cloud-to-ground flash.
The electric field change caused by that flash can cause lightning to then be emitted from a tall object like a building, tower or wind turbine.
"I got about five different captures and they all happened maybe two minutes apart," Mr Keene said.
"Obviously the atmosphere at that point was favourable for repeated occurrences, so the five I captured were over a 10-minute time frame.
"It was amazing to watch and maybe if only one happened you can't quite enjoy it, but for four or five to happen, you enjoy it even more."
Storm season in the Illawarra
Mr Keene said the Illawarra was now reaching the end of the typical storm season.
"It usually goes from October to late February or into early March, but it varies from season to season," he said.
"In general, it's usually between October and late February for the best action."
The Bomaderry photographer has been chasing storms for the past 20 years, after becoming fascinated with lightning.
He said the key to successful storm chasing was to use a variety of sources to plan where to be and when.
"I look at weather models and try to predict a target and where to start the chase and go from there," he said.
"I try to read the sky and it can give you clues to what you should do and I also look at the radar."
