Stormy Night at Castle Post - Versailles, Kentucky

[jsctech]

Here is a photo that I took of Castle Post in Versailles, KY during a storm a while back. It took about 25 images used to get this. Several different exposure times, and various other adjustments. I also used a combination of Lightroom, Photoshop CS5, and Photomatrix Pro to achieve this look. it was one of those moments that as I passed by and everything was right I had to pull the car over and setup quickly and just shoot away... of course standing out in a thunderstorm like this one may not have been the smartest thing to do.... Any Suggestions would be appreciated.

[SmartWombat]

of course standing out in a thunderstorm like this one may not have been the smartest thing to do.... Any Suggestions would be appreciated.

Hmm stay in the car, wind down the window and shoot from safety?

There are light haloes around the battlements, typical of heavy HDR.
The rooves of the towers are stepped and have light edges, a bit of oversharpening perhaps during hte resizing to fit the forum?

I think a little lighter hand on the HDR might improve it.

[jsctech]

Thank You Paul - I appreciate it.

[mattb]

I agree it looks a little overdone. But I still like it.
It kind of depends on what you are going for too, but there may be too many lightning bolts. Even if they are real there are so many it makes it seem less real to my eyes.
But as a page from a story book, it's perfect! (minus the halos)

[jsctech]

Thanks mattb. I appreciate it. I can def fix that type stuff... Never though I would ever take out lightning of a shot... LOL .

[F. Javier Gil]

The post-processing on lower half of the image is kind of rough. Do you have the original shot? could you post it?

[Greg McCary]

Well it a very good effort for sure. It is tilted to the right slightly and I think the building is to close to the center. I think you could lose some of the bottom. The foreground is so bright it almost looks like an obvious attempt at a sky replacement. I agree about the haloing as well.
I think darkening the foreground maybe would help. I hope your tripod isn't metal.

[phil1963]

WOW thats impressive

[Frog]

I agree with the above suggestions concerning the post processing. Just need to draw back a bit and not overdo the hdr and sharpening.
I don't mind the centered castle...seems to be right for this shot. I'd crop the bottom to about just above your copyright. Not saying to lose the copyright but use it as a crop guide.