First impression?

Be brutal.

This is a pretty dramatic photo. I really like it. My first impression was, “Man, I wouldn’t want to be out there in that storm.”

The lightning appears to have been added. The area around it has an unnatural light quality unlike real lightning.

Hmm, looks fake to me.
I would certainly get rid of that bright red bouy.

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My first impression is that this is two (or more) images composited together.

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The lightning and sky look unrealistic. The sky is too uniform and looks like it should be the "blue hour", but the boat sails are still reflecting a lot of bright light. If there really were a storm going on to produce that type of lightning, there would be dark clouds in the sky rather than this consistent blue color.

ISO400, 1/3200, f5.6............pretty close to SUNNY 16!!

You know my answer.

Pretty sure lightning needs clouds.

Thanks for the feedback. My first attempt in hindsight was overdone. It's not actually two images. I "drew" in the lightning. The rest of the image was not post-processed beyond adjusting levels. The point of view is facing north on Patchogue Bay of Long Island, NY. There was a large thunderstorm to the north that dumped 2" of rain on the north shore. (Luckily it wasn't moving south.) To the south (behind my back) the sky was blue and the sun was illuminating the sailboats. It was unique setting. I did not in fact see any lighting, which would have been my signal to head back to port.

Here's a more conservative approach.

I left in the buoy. I intend it as a gift to my marina. These guys race every weekend. Anyone seeing the photo would would ask where the buoy went.

I think if you want to give this to the marina it needs to look much more realistic. The sky doesn't look capable of generating lightning. You're going to need to replace the sky if you want it to be convincing.

With regard to the buoy....maybe just desaturate it a bit so it's not so demanding of attention.

If you want to add the lightning, I'd replace the sky with something like this. I'd also darken the water and sails a little. If you add lightning to this, it would look much more realistic.
Let me know if you want me to delete this and I will.

I agree with Bob R and Bob, the sky needs to look more realistic. Other than that, I think you have a great photo.

truecolors wrote in post #18598622
I agree with Bob R and Bob, the sky needs to look more realistic. Other than that, I think you have a great photo.

The whole character of the shot is that's exactly what the sky looked like, minus the "lightning bolt", which I added. I didn't apply any post-processing to the sky. There was a dark thunderstorm to the north and the sun was shining overhead.