Doppler adventures

I've got an antique camera collection inherited from my grandfather. Many of these old gems are purported to be functional, but I'm slowly making my way through the bunch. So far, my favorite new old acquaintence is an old manual canon ae1. Last night (and every night this week, it seems) we've had "severe thunderstorms" roll through, complete with great lightning, boiling clouds, you name it. Last night, they started around 11 pm, so I thought I'd take the ae1 to the small 1/2 bedroom room upstairs and point it out of the window on a little tripod, and try some time lapse photog. Drawbacks: I've not bought print film in a while so used what I had - some 50 speed b&w. Also, I've not used this camera since returning from overseas - maybe 2 years. Had to refresh myself with a couple of stills in the house. No problem tho, it came back quickly, and the mechanisms all remained functional. The 50 speed b&w was maybe not the best choice for nighttime lightning capture. Anyway, I attached the screw cable thing that you can lock down the photo taking button thingy with, waited just a moment or so for the lightning to spark up (which it then did continuously, the rest of the night!), and locked down the photo taking button thingy. The lightning was intense - lit up the whole neighborhood when it flashed - so I had the shutter locked for about 10 minutes. Never done that before with lightning, but I figured I had all night to play with different time exposures. Anyway, after relasing the shutter after that session, the push down button thingy no longer wants to push down. It's not on lock, and I wound the film. There is nothing automated about the camera at all, and I can't think of any other mechanisms preventing the button thingy from functioning properly.

I've got to make a run to the one and only photo place in town (they specialize in......wedding photos) to take some digital items to print out this weekend and finally put some images on the naked walls. Figured I'd ask them for ideas as well.

One thing I don't mind about the midwest - the weather. It's frequently violent, but only for about 20 minutes or so at a time, and what a sight - unimpeded by any other natural beauty like landscape or mountains. I learned last night a small funnel cloud touched down, only about a mile away from the house. And I was practically up in the attic playing with a camera. Well, I'll take adventure any way it comes.