Through The Shadows

(semi)Profesional Opinion/Critique:

This piece has some very good things going for it and a few things that could use some work.

First off this piece does have a lot of impact and does a good job of arresting the viewer's attention. The artist does a wonderful job of bringing in detail and contrast to the clouds to create a dramatic scene. The timing and capture of the lightning is a credit to the photographer. That said, the amount of detail and prominence of the objects in the foreground distracts from the subject in the background. This divides the attention of the viewer between foreground and background, leading to a slightly confused composition. The other rough area is the hue shift at the left side of the picture where the deeper purple of the vignette in the sky bleeds towards red tones.

Personal opinion/suggestion:

I would desaturate the foreground to black and white and experiment with adding a very slight soft focus effect. This eliminates color contrast in the picture letting the viewer's eye be drawn towards the purple in the sky. you could also just crop closer to the horizon, although that may upset the balance of the composition.