AN AMATEUR photographer captured lightning shots so good even his wife didn’t believe they were real.

Ronald Kotinsky, 46, was kayak fishing when themega storm caught up with him while he was out in the water in Tampa Bay in Florida, around 7pm on July 11.

The IT worker was forced to flee into the safety of the mangroves while lightning rained down around him as he set up his camera to capture the storm.

And the resulting shots saw Ronald catch four forks of lightning hit the ground simultaneously for an incredible snap that was so good many observers didn’t believe that he had captured it naturally.

But he insists that the single-frame shot — which he has christened ‘Rain of Pain’ — is the best he has ever taken after reviewing his stunning sequence of photographs from the storm.

Ronald said: “I could see the storm in the distance and my radar said it would be going inland but it got within half a mile of me, the sky began to go dark and the cell moved very close to me.

“So I decided to head for cover under the mangroves because I didn’t want to be the tallest thing around and figured that I would be a hell of a lot safer under there than running to the car in open ground.

“I suppose it was quite dangerous because weather can be really unpredictable and the lightning was really close.

“Luckily, I brought my camera and it was waterproof — I was worried about it being damaged but what is the point in having it and not using it? I started snapping away as the lightning struck.”

Ronald, who used a Canon 6D camera with an EF L-Series 16-35mm lens, has seen the shots strike a chord with photographers and viewers online - racking up more than 500 likes in a matter of hours.

And he insists that, while some have suggested the photos were modified, he has the evidence to prove the one-in-a-million shot was a genuine effort.

Ronald said: “The pictures are by far the most popular photos I have ever taken and even my wife needed some convincing that they were real but I can prove it.

“The ‘Rain of Pain’ was a single frame, half second shot and it looks like a composite image of several shots but I assure you that it is a genuine shot.

“Actually, a lot of the best pictures came when the storm past and I saw the back end of the storm.”