lightening question

[user3977]

i have seen pictures of lightening on here and been blown away with it. i tried to take a few the other night and this is the best of the bunch. all i did was import it from adobe bridge and saved at jpg. what can i do to make it pop?

 

[480sparky]

....... what can i do to make it pop?

Add the soundtrack?

Seriously, I don't know what you need to do to make it better. Shooting lightning is pretty much a hit-and-miss pure luck venture.

 

[Railphotog]

Your subject seemed to be asking about lightening an image, rather than a question re lightning. That extra "e" does make a difference!

 

[Markw]

He said lightening, but I'm sure he meant lightning.

As for making it pop, simple edits always help. Crop or clone out the black piece on the top left of the image, level the horizon, possibly darken the lighted portion of the trees or clone it completely out, and bump the contrast/curves of the photo. Maybe even the Saturation. All that done, and you'll be surprised how much different, and possibly better, the image will be.

Mark

 

[user3977]

yes lightning, sorry auto correct fixed my typing and i did not notice what it fixed it to. The black pole on the top left was the power line, i know that should go out. like i posted this was just imported straight off camera with no editing. by the light area your talking about, are you meaning the house?

 

[ShutUpHippie]

....... what can i do to make it pop?

Add the soundtrack?

Seriously, I don't know what you need to do to make it better. Shooting lightning is pretty much a hit-and-miss pure luck venture.

It's not entirely pure luck. Luck plays a decent part in it, to be sure, but if you have mobile internet with radar up, you're willing to drive a bit, and have the right light conditions (evening or night-time, ideally), lightning photography becomes more of an art than just praying for a strike. I've captured over 40 lightning photos in something like 4 years, and trust me, I'm not THAT lucky! lol

As for making the photo "pop," try bringing down the brightness just a bit and bring up the contrast. Also, crop it down to the main strike so that the photo's not so "busy" with the house and the streamer up in the clouds to the left. It doesn't add much to the picture and acts as something of a distraction for someone like me with ADOS (Attention Deficit- OOOH! Shiny!).

Just my two cent!