Courtesy Phillip Munafo

Lightning in a bottle struck literally for one Florida-based photographer who managed to capture on camera a bolt of lightning as it tore through the sky.

Phillip Munafo, a native Floridian who now lives in Daytona Shores on the state's East Coast, was home Tuesday afternoon as the band of storms that drenched the region suddenly stormed by his oceanfront condo.

"Within 10 minutes it went from a nice and sunny typical Florida summer afternoon to just pouring rain and lightning," Munafo, 31, told ABCNews.com.

Afraid of damaging his more expensive camera equipment, Munafo, an amateur hoping to break into the photography business, grabbed his iPhone 4S and headed out to capture the moment.

"I just went out on the balcony and started taking pictures of the lightning," he said. "My phone has a waterproof case so I wasn't real worried if it got wet or damp."

After nearly 20 minutes and approximately 40 to 50 shots, Munafo had his lightning in a bottle image.

"I had to just keep trying to time it just right because it was my first time trying to shoot lightning with a cell phone," Munafo said, noting he used the Camera Awesome app on his phone.

"I did a slow burst shot which takes two or three or four shots in one second," he said. "I'd just anticipate when the lighting was going to start to strike and then just hold down the burst shot and within about 15 minutes I was able to get that one shot with the clear lightning strike."