Two notes on this photo. First, it is not a composite. I sat stupidly on that road for well over an hour while this storm moved in from the mtns you can see in the background. It laid down bolt after bolt of lightning, and directly after this photo was taken my best photo buddy and I were on our way very, very quickly. Just too close, too powerful. Second, this image was taken in 2004 when I was still using a Canon G5. With that model's Digic 1 processor, there's no way to get around the savage grain at any ISO over 50, or maybe 100 with ideal conditions. This was not one of them - I was shooting ISO 400 in order to capture the sunset properly with the available manual settings: f2-f8 and 1/2000-15 seconds...kind of limiting.

Sorry for the novel, I just wanted to clarify up front. Thanks folks!

tu as raison ça évite les critiques inutiles ! en tout cas c'est impressionnant mais pourquoi le format carré? j'aurais plutôt vu un 2/3

The capture of the bolt which just so happened to be at the end of the road is amazing, what timing! I personally love this photo. The contrast of the storm and the sunset is beautiful. good job, ur patience payed off.

A spectacular capture; magnificent cloudscape and incredible drama. Well done on your patience and perseverance - it certainly paid off!

Good question, lasiate. I chose the square format becuase the original 2/3 is not weighted well. It's interesting that you picked up on that, though. Great input!

Awesome capture. I would love to get something like this. Someday.. :) I love it.

A very neat capture, awesome contrast between the sun sky and bolt. well done

I've tried the last two years to capture lightning just once, to no avail. You have my congratulations on an absolutely fabulous photo!

Wonderful.
This is one of those photos that shows off the skill of the photographer whilst pushing the limitations of the equipment.
This shows that even with some of the lower end equipment, you can still get that awesome jaw dropping shot!

Amazing capture...and thanks for the background! I would absolutely love to capture a bolt of lightening one day...

impressive moment you'd captured. brilliant composition and i think you were very lucky after printing your images. am i right? ;)

absolutely amazing. perfect timing. i like how the sun is still shining while lightning is going on.

The result was well worth the wait.

Very beautiful - One could wonder if this was a composite because of the pure forces that need to be aligned to capture such a fleeting moment.

I especially love the clouds at the top of the strike - almost like a painting. Bravo!

Thanks for your comment, Kerri. I started off the comment with some clarification, but again, this is not a composite. I agree, that things aligned as well as they did is insane...but that's what happened. I new instantly that it would be one of the luckiest shots I'd take in my life...that was a pretty insane feeling too. Glad you like it, Kerri. Thanks for your support.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough in my statement regarding the composite ~ only because it is such a wonderful once in a lifetime shot someone could. think it was a composite. I didn't mean to imply that I thought it was! :)

I myself captured some lightening this summer, tho not nearly as dramatic or beautiful; but a cool thing anyway.

If you're interested, you can see it here:
visualpeace.blogspot.com/2007/10/not-best-picture-...

Lightning photos are my favorite. I also try to capture it but have yet to be successful. I love the picture and hopefully one day I will submit one as great as yours.

It's strange way of thinking but the fact that this image could easily be a composite makes it less important than it should be. Eventhough it real and what you capture is very unique we have seen it so many times in fake images and thus a little bit of magic and power is lost.
Of course as everybody else I think it's a brilliant shot anyway

Great shot. Timing IS everything. Lonely country feel, awesome.

amazing shot,not much critique possible,
but if i were nitpicking,i'd wonder what this shot would look like if it were wider.