Lightning.
- Thread starter Brian
- Start date
These are awesome. I have been trying since my film days and never had any luck. Great work and I like your processing.
Brian
Well-Known Member
Thanks Ben. I really appreciate that.
AlanLichty
Moderator
Can't say that I can offer much in the way of critique of the lightning itself since I have never scored any shots like these to being with. And not for a lack of trying.
If these were mine I might be tempted to work on the ground a bit to bring out a few more details and fill in the scene a bit. As it stands the lightning overwhelms the rest of the scenes although that's not really a bad thing given the lightning you captured.
If these were mine I might be tempted to work on the ground a bit to bring out a few more details and fill in the scene a bit. As it stands the lightning overwhelms the rest of the scenes although that's not really a bad thing given the lightning you captured.
Hey Brian, these are great! You got some terrific bolts here. Did you see I had gotten some lightning a few weeks ago up in Greeley. Since I rarely see lightning it was an awesome experience for the 10 minutes it lasted.
One of my shots is in Let’s Play which ends today.
As for the ground, I will have to politely give the opposite opinion from Alan. Lightning in almost all cases is about the lightning, so letting the ground layer go dark is fine. It’s not like a typical landscape image where the foreground often plays an important part of the photo. Plus, as both of these are composed you have only a small bit of ground in each shot, enough to anchor the shot but not enough to give any interest if they were brightened to give more detail. And, it looks like it was dark out anyway, so to brighten the ground or lift the shadows could make the small strip of ground look unnatural in these photos.
But with that said,
if these were mine, when I did convert them in raw, I would process one version like you posted here, and I would process a version with the ground brighter just to double check that my feeling for a darker ground was correct.
One of my shots is in Let’s Play which ends today.
As for the ground, I will have to politely give the opposite opinion from Alan. Lightning in almost all cases is about the lightning, so letting the ground layer go dark is fine. It’s not like a typical landscape image where the foreground often plays an important part of the photo. Plus, as both of these are composed you have only a small bit of ground in each shot, enough to anchor the shot but not enough to give any interest if they were brightened to give more detail. And, it looks like it was dark out anyway, so to brighten the ground or lift the shadows could make the small strip of ground look unnatural in these photos.
But with that said,
if these were mine, when I did convert them in raw, I would process one version like you posted here, and I would process a version with the ground brighter just to double check that my feeling for a darker ground was correct.
Jim Dockery
Well-Known Member
Nice work getting the bolts.
I agree with Jim on these that I'd leave the ground dark - doesn't look that interesting in any event. I'm not a lightning expert and don't have anything to show illustrating the following point, but it seems pure lightning pics are a bit passé, like shots of the stars with a few trees silhouetted below. If you can frame up a shot that would be interesting on it's own, then capture lightning as a fantastic accent, now you're talking! This might be my favorite shot posted here, that illustrates this to the max, like all such photos it combines technical skill, artistic framing, skillful post processing, and a huge dose of luck. I wish we had more lightning in my area so I could try getting some lighting shots, but then I guess we'd have to pay the price in wild fires.
I agree with Jim on these that I'd leave the ground dark - doesn't look that interesting in any event. I'm not a lightning expert and don't have anything to show illustrating the following point, but it seems pure lightning pics are a bit passé, like shots of the stars with a few trees silhouetted below. If you can frame up a shot that would be interesting on it's own, then capture lightning as a fantastic accent, now you're talking! This might be my favorite shot posted here, that illustrates this to the max, like all such photos it combines technical skill, artistic framing, skillful post processing, and a huge dose of luck. I wish we had more lightning in my area so I could try getting some lighting shots, but then I guess we'd have to pay the price in wild fires.
