The best I can do to get pictures of lightning is to use my video camera to record lightning strikes, then capture stills from the frames where lightning was recorded. Due to limitations with an NTSC video signal, this doesn’t make for optimal results, but it’s better than nothing.
Figured I’d stick up the rest, even though the focus on them isn’t so great (IIRC, these were all shot with the telephoto lens) but some pretty nifty strikes, anyway.
http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/3049/IMG_1454ForWeb.jpg
http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/8440/IMG_1415ForWeb.jpg
Another vote for the unretouched version as the more dramatic. Very, very cool!
One last one (I promise) - I just really liked the whole lightning-through-the-cloud look.
http://img456.imageshack.us/img456/7382/img1337forweb5ze.jpg
I’m putting that second one in my screen saver rotation. Way cool Ben Franklin!
Another vote for the un-retouched version.
If you want to get back some foreground detail, make an adjustment layer in Photoshop, tweak it until the foreground looks nice, then put a gradient into the adjustment layer’s transparency channel. If you do the gradient just so, only the foreground of the underlying layer will be affected.
Good tip squeegee. Another option, if you’re good with the pen tools and you have a well-defined horizon like that, is to draw a path outlining the foreground as closely as you can. Make your path a selection with a slightly feathered edge, and then tweak the selection.
I’m a big fan of a good storm photos…nice job!
Those are so cool. I love watching lightning.
Not to be morbid, but when I was a kid a cousin of mine (who I didn’t know well and rarely ever saw) was struck, and killed by lightning.