first attempt at lightning

heres my first attempt at lightning:
wasn't sure where to begin so i just started shooting, few hundred pics later had some reasonably good photos, any opinions on what i could improve on besides using a tripod next time?

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …inersonthenet/5​952369052/

Grab a long metal pole, run towards the lightning pointing your camera straight up!

Just kidding, don't do that. Could you post your EXIF data? May help those with experience help you out.

will do when i get home

Nice catch. EXIF data would be helpful to comment further. Use a tripod and reasonably long exposure with F8 or smaller (=higher number) and low ISO.

Here's the Exif data

Camera Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Exposure 8
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 36 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
Orientation Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution 72 dpi
Y-Resolution 72 dpi
Date and Time (Modified) 2011:07:18 01:56:36
YCbCr Positioning Co-sited
Padding (Binary data 2060 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Exposure Program Manual
Date and Time (Original) 2011:07:18 01:56:36
Date and Time (Digitized) 2011:07:18 01:56:36
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Sub Sec Time 61
Sub Sec Time Original 00
Sub Sec Time Digitized 00
Color Space sRGB
Focal Plane X-Resolution 5728.176796 dpi
Focal Plane Y-Resolution 5808.403361 dpi
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode Manual
White Balance Auto
Scene Capture Type Standard
Padding (Binary data 2060 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Offset Schema 4016
Macro Mode Normal
Self Timer Off
Quality Fine
Canon Flash Mode Off
Continuous Drive Single
Focus Mode Manual Focus (3)
Record Mode JPEG
Canon Image Size Large
Easy Mode Manual
Digital Zoom None
Contrast Normal
Saturation Normal
Metering Mode Evaluative
Focus Range Not Known
Canon Exposure Mode Manual
Lens Type Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Short Focal 18 mm
Focal Units 1/mm
Max Aperture 4.5
Min Aperture 29
Flash Activity 0
Flash Bits (none)
Zoom Source Width 0
Zoom Target Width 0
Manual Flash Output n/a
Color Tone Normal
Focal Plane XSize 226.11 mm
Focal Plane YSize 500.13 mm
Auto ISO 100
Base ISO 100
Measured EV -6.50
Target Aperture 8
Target Exposure Time 1
White Balance Auto
Slow Shutter None
Sequence Number 0
Optical Zoom Code n/a
Flash Guide Number 0
Flash Exposure Comp 0
Auto Exposure Bracketing Off
AEBBracket Value 0
Control Mode Camera Local Control
Measured EV2 -6.25
Bulb Duration 8
Camera Type EOS High-end
NDFilter Unknown (-1)
Canon Firmware Version Firmware Version 1.0.9
Serial Number 1723900355
Canon Model ID Unknown (0x80000270)
AFMode Off (Manual Focus)
Num AFPoints 9
Valid AFPoints 9
AFArea Widths 129 129 129 181 222 181 129 129 129
AFArea Heights 172 172 172 117 221 117 172 172 172
AFPoints Selected 4
Original Decision Data Offset 0
Bracket Mode Off
Bracket Value 0
Bracket Shot Number 0
Raw Jpg Size Large
WBBracket Mode Off
WBBracket Value AB 0
WBBracket Value GM 0
Live View Shooting Off
Flash Exposure Lock Off
Lens Model EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Internal Serial Number VA1809584
Dust Removal Data (Binary data 1024 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Tone Curve Standard
Sharpness 4
Sharpness Frequency n/a
Sensor Red Level 0
Sensor Blue Level 0
White Balance Red 0
White Balance Blue 0
Color Temperature 5200
Picture Style Landscape
Digital Gain 0
WBShift AB 0
WBShift GM 0
Measured RGGB 483 1024 1024 835
Color Space sRGB
VRDOffset 0
Sensor Width 5344 (152-5335 used)
Sensor Height 3516 (56-3511 used)
Black Mask Left Border 0
Black Mask Top Border 0
Black Mask Right Border 0
Black Mask Bottom Border 0
Peripheral Lighting On
Peripheral Lighting Value 35
Peripheral Lighting Setting On
Exposure Level Increments 1/3 Stop
ISOExpansion Off
Flash Sync Speed Av Auto
High ISONoise Reduction Off
Highlight Tone Priority Disable
AFAssist Beam Emits
Mirror Lockup Disable
Shutter Button AFOn Button Metering + AF start
Set Button When Shooting Normal (disabled)
LCDDisplay At Power On Display
Add Original Decision Data Off
Compression JPEG (old-style)
About uuid:faf5bdd5-ba3d-11da-ad31-d33d75182f1b
Date Acquired 2011:07:18 02:18:05

EEP!
all we really need is camera, focus length, shutter speed, f/stop, ISO speed

will remember that for next time, wasnt sure what you wanted, so i got it all

Did you use a tripod? If so, did you switch off the Image Stabaliser? If not that explains the unsharpness of the lightspots at the bottom.

no tripod, all freeheld, with a little support from my window

T3 Heavy Shop wrote in post #12790459
EEP!
all we really need is camera, focus length, shutter speed, f/stop, ISO speed

LOl.....

No tripod? Thats awesome work with no tripod. I use a tripod and a release and set shutter to about 20-30 sec depending on how often there are strikes. The pic is good too by the way, but the foreground is a bit distracting.

A closer crop on the big strike, cropping out the ground lights (and the furthest left strike) looks pretty good. Even just losing the blurry greenish light at the bottom helps quite a bit. I'd show you what I mean but you don't have the "image editing OK" bit set. Good shot!