Lightning storm and brush fire, West Richland, August 7 2008 -- #41 in Explore on Aug 15!

Disclosure: Some photoshop work was involved -- mostly using the healing brush to tone down or eliminate lights from the town of west richland on the hillsides.

Color balance also tweaked for aesthetic effect.

Is it cheating if you admit it freely?

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Comments

johny~ says:

Oh snap! I am loving this one, great job!

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Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

swissphoto says:

very nice!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

sailingaway719 says:

Very cool! I got linked to your photos from an e-mail forwarded from my roommate Emily's supervisor, Kim, and I'm definitely glad I got to see these images! What a crazy night!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

[ L.K ] 夜 says:

Brilliant photo

Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

PatrickSmithPhotography says:

The raw power of nature. Nice job.
Patrick
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

J-Chan says:

awesome!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

mpaulda™ says:

What a Fantastic Photo.
Congrats for reaching Explore!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Don6201 says:

Oh, so strong and powerful !
wonderful shot ! love it

Seen on explore !
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Stéfan says:

Most impressive. Congratulations.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Scott Butner says:

thanks, all, for the kind words.

SB
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

johny~ says:

Hey congrats on your most recent entires into Explore!!

Link ---> Scout / Explore

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Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Scott Butner says:

yeah, #91 no less! considering I'm usually lucky to get even a single comment on my photos, I guess I ought to think about moving somewhere with more storms, huh? :-)

hey, you going out to shoot meteors tonight? Peak of the perseids is supposed to occur around 2 a.m.

I'm thinking about a nocturnal field trip to the fake stonehenge near Goldendale.....

SB
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

johny~ says:

That actually sounds like a cool trip I was just there a few days ago for the first time and had a few thoughts on the way home about night shots there with star fields or light painting......

Unfortunately my son has hockey camp this week (until 10pm) and next and since I am a single parent I have no other parental unit to leave in charge while I go have fun......Bah Humbug!

I might sneak out in the backyard or something though that stuff is cool to capture and I have been wanting to try it for some time now!

"Stonehenge" by stinkypete [?]

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Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

the Bakes_010 says:

Nice Work.
One must have a good photo in the first place.
Tweeking can be fun.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

.Trev says:

Great capture!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Arizona BabyDoll says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called (Invite Only) True Essence Of Mother Nature + Comment 3!, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Steve.Maw says:

Superb capture, just wish we had more lightning here

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Blue Room, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Keith Vaught says:

Wow, great catch!!
Seen in explore...
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Mike G. K. says:

amazing shot!

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Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

siggito says:

SWEET!!! Fantastic shot!!!!!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

jeremedia says:

Great capture. Wow.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

M A R C O . says:

Wonderful!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Andre Glegg says:

Fucking cheating!! U cheat r!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

LifeSunDeath says:

A Big Fave
You are invited to add this image to www.flickr.com/groups/bigfave
Please tag this photo with ABigFave when you add it to the pool.
invited with SICI (2008-07-25)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Gatowag says:

Phfsh, I wouldn't consider it cheating if you didn't tell everyone. All you basically did was some digital darkroom tweaking, most pictures can use a little cleaning up in post (digitally adding the lighting or something that significant would be frowned upon though), it's about the end-result anyways.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Scott Butner says:

Gatowag --

thanks for the reassurance -- actually, I tend to feel the same way, but like to make sure I'm up front on when I use PS to make a signficant contribution to the photo (in this case, there's no doubt that the alteration of the color balance helped the shot, even though the actual capture was not altered in terms of composition, etc.

Besides, nearly all my friends at work ask me "so, how did you get that color?" so I figured I'd pre-empt the question. :-)

SB
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Ronnie Bruce says:

Beautiful photo... Photography is an art.. and Photoshopping is an art.. So no its not cheating :)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Gatowag says:

- Totally understood, and man that blue toning is absolutely gorgeous.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

cinloykko says:

its so gorgeous - and photoshop away!!! if its to enhance, its perfectly acceptable. plus, didn't you know that photoshop is an art anyway?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

bth_1 says:

Very nice. I think it's perfectly fine to photoshop pics. Just don't claim that you didn't if you did. : )

Thanks for posting.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Scott Butner says:

thanks, all for the kind comments on this and my other photos. I'm a little overwhelmed -- most of my stuff has gone without comment for the year or two that I've been back to photography, and suddenly (thanks to Digg) I've got 22,000+ views on one photo.

amazing.

to those who didn't like the use of photoshop, here's the original:

Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

tristan_is_bord says:

Whoa. This was here in Richland? I didn't know the storm last week was THAT bad... Cool picture.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

johny~ says:

Wholly Cheese and Rice Scott!! 26,000+ views !! You are my new hero my most viewed photo only has just a little over 1500 way go you sly photo taken dawg you!!

Oh BTW it made it up to #26 today!!!!

;-P

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Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Christopher Chan says:

This is a spectacular shot !
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

lavenderstreak says:

It's a gorgeous shot either way. I dream of capturing a lighting bolt like that.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

bouche says:

Thanks for the best desktop background I have ever had.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

SharkStar says:

Nice Pic!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Martha {Dancing Monkey Jewelry} says:

It's not cheating - it's part of the artistic process.

It's a beautiful photograph.

Congratulations!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Nemesis Fiko says:

Hi,
This is an outstanding picture!
I am an admin for a group called
Flickr Lovers / Flickri Sevenler, and we would
love to have your photo added to our group.

Join us and enjoy the sharing!
Bize Katılın ve Paylaşımın Tadını Çıkarın
Please tag this photo with FlickrLovers when you add it to the pool.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

xposurepro.com says:

This is one of the best lightning shots I've seen on flickr .. I used it for a how to post and gave you a linkback ... How to Photograph Lightning
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Annamir™ [-off-] says:

Truly BLUE!!
This image seen in:

"BLUE ROOM" group:
Comment on any 2 photos for every post!
Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

b30rr says:

its not cheating. Its called art. Only cheating if you claim that the exposure is "as is" straight from the camera. Excellent work!!
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

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Additional Information

Some rights reserved Anyone can see this photo

Taken in West Richland, Washington (map)
Taken with a Nikon D80.
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Taken on August 7, 2008
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Lightning storm and brush fire, West Richland, August 7 2008 -- #41 in Explore on Aug 15!

Comments

johny~ says:

swissphoto says:

sailingaway719 says:

[ L.K ] 夜 says:

PatrickSmithPhotography says:

J-Chan says:

mpaulda™ says:

Don6201 says:

Stéfan says:

Scott Butner says:

johny~ says:

Scott Butner says:

johny~ says:

the Bakes_010 says:

.Trev says:

Arizona BabyDoll says:

Steve.Maw says:

Keith Vaught says:

Mike G. K. says:

siggito says:

jeremedia says:

M A R C O . says:

Andre Glegg says:

LifeSunDeath says:

Gatowag says:

Scott Butner says:

Ronnie Bruce says:

Gatowag says:

cinloykko says:

bth_1 says:

Scott Butner says:

tristan_is_bord says:

johny~ says:

Christopher Chan says:

lavenderstreak says:

bouche says:

SharkStar says:

Martha {Dancing Monkey Jewelry} says:

Nemesis Fiko says:

xposurepro.com says:

Annamir™ [-off-] says:

b30rr says:

Would you like to comment?

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