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Christian Neumann
10-28-2011, 05:00 AM
During my last visit in the U.S this summer, I watched this approaching thunderstorm from a vantage point east of Sharp’s Corner, <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">South Dakota</st1:place></st1:State> (close to the Badlands NP).
Although the storm did not produce much lightning, I was lucky enough to catch this cloud-to-ground flash.<o:p></o:p>
I love the rolling prairie and the dramatic cloud structures.<o:p></o:p>
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RAW image processed with Lightroom<o:p></o:p>
EOS 7D, tripod, 16-35 mm @ 35, ISO 100, f2,8, 1/125 sec, Manual




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http://download.naturkundemuseum-berlin.de/christian.neumann/sharps_corner1a.jpg<o:p></o:p>

Chris Korman
10-28-2011, 05:53 PM
Nice capture. I might consider trimming off a small portion of the top the image around an 1 inch or there abouts. I'd also try experimenting with brightening the foreground hill-scape.

Chris Korman
10-28-2011, 06:05 PM
Here's something like what I am seeing:

http://webs.lanset.com/hypoploi/jpeg/sharps_corner1a_edit.jpg

Jay Gould
10-28-2011, 09:35 PM
While I think the RP does the scene justice, the question remains whether at the time of capture the entire scene was a dark as presented in the OP.

Looking at the RP again I think the foreground, at least parts of it are too light. It is suggestive of an opening in the clouds and i do not believe at the moment of capture there was any opening.

Gary Hamilton
10-29-2011, 09:33 AM
I love how the lightning shoots out of that pink section of the clouds. I think I'd like the foreground somewhere between the OP and the RP, although Jay makes a valid point in that we did not witness the actual event. I'd also take a bit more off the top for more of a pano look but not so much that the darkest sections of the clouds in and near the URHC are removed (the sky would be too gray without those blacks). Cheers.

Robert Amoruso
10-30-2011, 07:51 AM
Christian,Welcome to BPN and the Landscape forum.

I agree that the FG 1/2 between the OP and the re-post looks to be a good place to be with that. I also feel the pano crop is stronger compositionally.

Andrew Aveley
10-30-2011, 02:15 PM
pano her makes it really strong and adds to the mood. again some wise words :)

Morkel Erasmus
10-30-2011, 04:30 PM
super drama and mood! I too think the foreground in the repost is a tad bright...

Andrew McLachlan
10-30-2011, 07:40 PM
Christian, welcome! Very nice post. Agree on the foreground being a tad bright in the repost. I think Robert is right with having it somewhere between the original post and the repost. Nice one!

Chris Korman
10-31-2011, 02:21 AM
Whether or not the "real" scene had a brighter FG is not really the issue for me, as what the camera captures is not reality. I think it is up to the photographer to determine how they wish to express their vision and interpretation of the scene, and what they wish to emphasize.

I think the original image looks like it may be about a stop under exposed, since the OP has not made any comment on my reinterpretation who knows where they want to go with this image. But I would like to hear from them.

Christian Neumann
10-31-2011, 10:02 AM
Dear all,

thank you very much for your valuable and most helpful suggestions - indeed, the scene was somewhat brighter than the OP and the original RAW was even a little bit over-exposed. I darkened the sky significantly and added more contast to make it appear more dramatic.
I agree with you that the image benefits from a stronger panorama crop. Moreover, in the image below I reduced the color saturation of the foreground to some extend and accentuated the area with the lighning by making it a little bit brighter. Let me know what you think - better or worse?

Cheers, Christian



http://download.naturkundemuseum-berlin.de/christian.neumann/sharpcorner2improved.jpg


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