Justified
panoramic composite of electrical storm

During the summer, at least in much of the southeastern US, it's not uncommon to have 'cells' of thunderstorms, isolated patches of rising air that produces violent electrical storms without any kind of storm front. This means that it's possible to be driving along on a clear humid night and encounter a fierce storm only a few kilometers across. That's what happened this night as I was heading out to go grocery shopping, and it was so spectacular that I turned back to get the camera, and postponed my shopping for a couple of hours.

While much of it had passed by the time I found a wide vantage (at the edge of the interstate,) I still had enough activity to make the effort worthwhile, and watched as the storm moved along and obscured the moon. Looking at my collection of images afterwards, I realized I could make a panoramic even though I hadn't planned it while I was shooting. So this image is a composite of several taken from one tripod position, and includes the light of the moon still struggling to shine through at extreme right.

Yeah, I've done this before – so? If I'm going to 'Photoshop' an image, it's at least a good reason to, as far as I'm concerned. And I didn't even get wet...

Canon 300D, tripod
Sigma 24-135 at 24mm
ISO 100
Various exposure times and apertures