Twin Strike

[ken1953]

f5.6@4sec 50mm 5:16am 5/25/2011

We had a small storm blow threw last week. Lightning was very sparse. This was my only capture of the night and happened just as my shutter was closing. Pure luck.

Would like some critique on my photoshopping. I have tried to capture the original darkness of the early morning that didn't come through with the long exposure. I was battling a rising sun, fading darkness, random/widespread lightning strikes, etc.

Hope you like it.

[gahspidy]

"I was battling a rising sun, fading darkness, random/widespread lightning strikes...." Sounds like a promo script from this summers next epic blockbuster movie! ;)

Hard to see what you did pp wise without seeing the original, although I'd guess it was very bright without much cloud detail?
As it looks now, it feels like dawn or dusk which is pretty good. How did you try going about it? I would look into duping the layer, change blend mode to multiply and reduce opacity. the add a mask and brush away mask in the green field (letting light in) as if its being illuminated by the lightning.
Anyway, its a good capture and luck or not you have to be there and be determined to get it, and you were.....

Sweet

[draymorton]

Great capture, Ken. Lightning is 98% luck and 2% leaving the shutter open until you catch it. lol I agree that you did capture some of the darkness needed for the feel you were attempting... and that it looks good. I like Gary's suggestions for this, particularly illuminating the grass (or maybe the tops of the trees, anyway), which is something I would not have thought of. Multiply was the first thing I would have mentioned, too. Or maybe just use curves? I'm not sure too much more darkness is needed, though.

[ken1953]

Gary, never thought of it, but when I read your remarks, it made sense...hehe.

Dray, Thanx for the comments also.

As for the photo, here is the original. I've never learned to work with masks and some of what you guys are saying is above my head. I guess I'll have to find someone to teach me. I'm using CS2 PS for my editing program, and being a poor reader, I learn things by trial and error, so after 6 years of using this, I'm still a novice. hehe.. I will however strive to follow your directions and make some of these corrections.

Again, thanx for the comments and suggestions.

[wilsan]

Unfortunately I can not spot lighting like that in my home. I would love to take a picture like this one.
the PP was well done. Good shot.

[llewpics]

I did not see anyone suggest this ... and maybe I missed it ...if so, sorry ...

I would suggest that you also consider prolonging you chance of capturing the lighting while not worrying about over exposing the sky ...perhaps a 8 to a 10 stop ND filter? That could (at dawn and dusk) push the exposure to 15-30 sec range (I think) ...just a thought ...

[ken1953]

Thanx Wilsan and llewpics...

Wilsan...It is really hard for me to capture stuff like this from my home, also. I deliver newspapers at night and so I get the chance to get out into the country where, when conditions are right, I get an opportunity like this one.

llew...ND filter, huh??? I'll have to try that. I'm usually limited on time at night and with the few minutes it takes to setup, on a night like this one, I only had a few opportunities. Like Dray said...lightning captures are 98% luck. Unless you have a night where they are striking every few seconds.

Again...thanx for the comments!!

[armando_m]

Lucky shot ? yeah, but very good one !!!

I like what you did in your processing when comparing with the original
I think you can keep going in the same way and will make the clouds even darker,
avoid the greens as suggested

[ken1953]

Thanx Armando, I will keep working on it. I really want to try the "masks" etc. mentioned earlier...but have to really do some reading (haha) and get some help to figure out how.

[gahspidy]

Thanx Armando, I will keep working on it. I really want to try the "masks" etc. mentioned earlier...but have to really do some reading (haha) and get some help to figure out how.

Ken, here is a simple diagram which should help getting started with masks.

Right click on your background layer and select "duplicate layer" you will then get "background copy" There are other ways and shortcuts but this is simple and should get you there.
Change the blending mode of your background copy to "multiply" this will darken things dramatically. Reduce the opacity to about 40-50%.
Make sure your bg copy layer is still selected and then hit the "add layer mask" button below. You will then get a white mask. A white mask is transparent and lets all of the image through while a black mask hides everything.
Now to hide some of the effect of the multiply layer (bring back some lighter illumination of the original image) you will paint black into the mask around the field in the image. Do this by selecting a brush with a soft feathered edge, set the opacity and flow (located near the top of your photoshop window) to a low setting to start off and set your foreground color to black. Make sure you have your mask selected(just click on it to be sure) and then paint into the field and trees in your image. You will then see the black mask being painted in on the mask layer as well as shown in my example.
The opposite would be to fill the mask with black (edit>fill) and then paint in with white to reveal the effects of the layer, etc.
Hope this helps a bit to get started.

[ken1953]

Thanx Gary...I will give it a try!!!