maritan Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) I set out for a super moon shoot but there were clouds hanging low on the horizon and a storm was moving in from another direction. I turned my attention to the storm since there were the occasional lightning strikes and I wanted to capture them. After trying for a while and getting frustrated at the lack of success, I saw rain starting to close in rapidly on my (exposed) vantage point from yet another direction. I quickly packed up and moved to the closest parking garage. Once I was under a roof, I experimented with Live Composite captures (mode available on Olympus cameras) of varying duration for over an hour before the lightning storm finally started picking up and I was getting at least one strike every few minutes. What you see above is the final result of merging six different live composite shots for lightning strikes. Three more shots were used to to retrieve (and add) details in the buildings, the lights in the windows, and the traffic light streaks using Affinity Photo 1.3.5. Photo clickable for full res. Lightning Show Questions, comments and (constructive) criticism very welcome. Edited September 2, 2015 by Dale Corrected topic title for OP Mr. Doodlezz, bamboo8R, A_B_C and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmac Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Wow! Nicely done. Paul Bravery and maritan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bravery Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Impressive! maritan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted August 31, 2015 Staff Share Posted August 31, 2015 There's nothing like having a camera at hand all the time. Great composite @maritan. Thanks for sharing :) Paul Bravery and maritan 2 Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software | Affinity Quick Reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 This is one of those great images; where the more you zoom in the better it looks. maritan 1 Quote MacBook pro, 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB, OS X 10.11.6 http://www.pinterest.com/peter2111 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Doodlezz Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Woooah … :o maritan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maritan Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Thanks folks. As I get more comfortable with AP, I'm able to squeeze more out of my pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justwilliam Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Well done! It made me all tingly. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnyb Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 The lightning looks fantastic! The only things I would add (since you asked for constructive criticism) is: 1. Correct the keystone/perspective of the shot by using the perspective/warp tool. 2. I would get rid of the construction crane and the scaffolding on the right of the building, as they're not a permanent part of the landscape nor do they really add much to the story of the shot. The Inpainting Brush should take care of that rather quickly... 3. You might try to get more contrast in the clouds behind the lightning bolt, specifically in the lower-right corner of the upper-left quadrant of the image (if that makes any sense). Making the brightest parts of the clouds brighter and the darker parts darker (using dodge and burn tools or a curves adjustment revealed through a local mask) would bring in more of the potent display of nature you so brilliantly captured! Keep on sharing! Looks great :) maritan and A_B_C 2 Quote 2021 16” Macbook Pro w/ M1 Max 10c cpu /24c gpu, 32 GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Ventura 13.6 2018 11" iPad Pro w/ A12X cpu/gpu, 256 GB, iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maritan Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 Ronnyb, you must know my wife. :D She also told me to get rid of the crane. I didn't think it was that distracting, but you (and my wife and one other person) think it is. I've inpainted it out. The scaffolding is a nightmare. I've gotten rid of it twice now and both times the results of what was left in its place is just not that good. You can readily some artifacts. I might have to leave it in. I originally tried to correct the keystone, but that causes the left most lightning bolt to get cut off; the starting point of that bolt can't be seen anymore. I'm sure there's some other trick to preserve that origination point of that bolt and still correct keystone, but I'm not sure what yet. And you're totally right about dodging and burning. I knew I was forgetting something and I was tired. ive incorporated that into the clouds - even the one in the lower right corner of the upper left quadrant! Thank you very much for your constructive criticism. Like I've implied above, I'm working on a revised image and will update once I'm done. ronnyb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnyb Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I tried some of those changes on your image: fixing the perspective of the shot was a snap using AP's awesome Distort tool and the Source/Destination settings. I pulled the lower left corner towards the right and used the In-Painting brush to quickly generate the missing piece on a new layer. I also used it to quickly block out the crane. maritan 1 Quote 2021 16” Macbook Pro w/ M1 Max 10c cpu /24c gpu, 32 GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Ventura 13.6 2018 11" iPad Pro w/ A12X cpu/gpu, 256 GB, iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maritan Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 I fixed most of the issues you mentioned Ronnyb, except the scaffolding. However, for some reason, I am unable to attach the jpg to this post - using the flash and basic uploader version. Not sure why. ronnyb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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