If woken by a tumultuous storm outside, most of us will wisely pull the covers over our heads and try to go back to sleep. For one plucky photographer though, it was the chance to dash outside and capture some truly electric images.

Frank Fennema, 56 from California made the trip from his home in Tiburon, north of San Francisco, down to the Golden Gate Bridge.

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© Frank Fennemma

'I woke up at 4.30am on Saturday morning to the sound of thunder. I wondered how far off it was,' he said.

'I drove to the Marin Headlands but it was way too foggy so I went low near the Coast Guard station for this shot of the Golden Gate Bridge.'

Mr Fennema used a D300 Nikon camera, wrapped in his poncho to protect it from the rain and placed on a tripod. He attached it to a wireless shutter setting a shutter speed of 30 seconds so he could shelter from the storm.

'It was too dangerous to stand outside for a long time. So I sat in my car listening to podcasts between around 5 and 6am,' he said.

'As the lightning struck I took lots of shots, this was about my fourth shot of the morning when I got lucky. You should of heard me say "YEEEESS!" when I saw the huge strike and the sky lit up white-blue with light.'

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© Frank FennemmaThese eerie pictures were taken in the early morning
The now retired IBM worker took a number of spectacular images that he was quick to share with the online photography community on Flickr.

He has a dedicated section to the Golden Gate Bridge. 'It is probably one of the most photographed icons in America and it's a real challenge to get a different view of her,' he said.

'We don't get much severe weather like lightning storms, but we do get a lot of sunshine and fog.'

To see more of Frank's photos visit www.ffennema.zenfolio.com