My shots from this week....

cbmazur

These are just a few of my shots I have gotten this week. I haven't had the time to edit them so there right off of the camera. All of these were taken in Mosul, Iraq. Its now the rainy season here so there should be a few more oppertunitys to get more shots like this. Most of the strikes were at least a mile or so out there and taken between 11pm and 2am. The settings I used was ISO 80 f8.0 with a 8 second exposure. So let me know how they look and maybe give me a few pointers on how to get better. For all of my pics go here > http://public.fotki.com/cbmazur/ <

Rhuarc

I like these shots. They have a very dark and moody feel to them. Just oent hing, I would try to move to a location where a power lines wouldn't be going right through the strikes. I like the twoer on the right being in full shadow, but I think the lines cutting across the shot are distracting.

Great stuff, can't wait to see more!!

cbmazur

The cables in the shot are hard to get out of there. they actually attach to another antenna about 10 feet behind me. That area is loaded with a bunch of antennas and support cables and wires. I will see what I can do in future shots. since I am up on the roof of the building taking them. I know not the smartest place to be during a lightning storm but i figure all the metal antennas above me shold protect me from a direct hit. lol....

cbmazur

Ok, here are 2 of the above after I altered/edited them and cropped them down a little. What else do you think needs to be done to them?

DoctorIt

Some nice looking lightning - never an easy thing to capture.

Just FYI: tried to figure out why you originally posted this in the challenge forum, and had no luck, so I moved it into Field and Street. Should get more views here.

moylesm

I think you did a great job with what you have. Agree that the cables are distracting, but short of some significant PhotoShop work (which I'm personally against), there's not much you can do about it. I would DEFINITELY move AND change your "watermark". The yellow text, basically centered in some of the photos, is terrible. The watermark should be subtle, communicate that the image is copyrighted, but should detract from the photo as little as possible.

Happy shooting,

cbmazur

any tips for creating a custom watermake to put in to my display images. I have PS 7.0 and im not that good with it yet but im getting there. I did manage to get the wires out of two of them so far and not make it look hacked up. i found a slightly better point to shoot from I tried tonight but the weather didnt work out for me. I need you to sharpshoot help me get as good as most of you are.....Thanks. Chris

Phyxius

Oops, I posted the wrong link a minute ago...

Here's the right one.
http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1690196

A lot of this applies to smugmug, but they also explain how to make a watermark Hope that helps.