Maui's Feb '11 lightning storm

[Deilin]

Hey all - this is my first post here. I've been taking pictures for a while, but have just recently been getting to the point where I really am enjoying the look of my end-result photos. I took this one here last week, and I'm wondering what you guys think of it. Aside from general sharpening/noise reduction, the only real post that I did was to bring up the exposure on the stars, and reduce the glow of the city a little bit. (you can see the first version of the photo next to this one in my photo stream)

Could anything have been done to improve the shot?



Exposure 15 sec
Aperture f/4
Focal Length 17 mm
ISO Speed 1000

This resolution is a bit small, so I'd recommend viewing it a little larger and on black here

[Krusty79]

Welcome to DPS. No responses yet? I don't know about shooting lightning, but you have a LOT of empty space in this shot. I would recommend getting a telephoto lens that lets you zoom in on the action more.

[Nicole Hanna]

I'm not really qualified to critique on much, given how new I am myself, but I love that one little bright spot in the lower right of the frame. For me, it's not that there's too much empty space, because the stars are lovely, but that empty space is competing for my attention. I'm naturally drawn to the hypnotizing effect of the stars but, at the same time, want to force my attention to that lovely little spot of lightening, which I feel is cheated out of being the focus of this shot. Still, beautiful regardless. I can't take a night shot to save my life.

[wsbII]

I'm somewhere between the other posters which I realize doesn't help. I like the contrast between the clear skies and the storm beyond. As was said there is some empty space so maybe a different angle could improve this.

My only other piece to add is that there are a few items that are lit up on the left side (power pole) and along the horizon (light coming through the trees). If you removed those light sources or crop vertically I think it would make the image stronger.

Thanks for sharing!
Bill