My wife and I recently spent a week in the Barrington tops region north of Newcastle. Not only is it beautiful country but it is close to home. Our first night there a storm was passing just to the south of us through Dungog. This was a lightning strike close to us and the flash illuminated the rain falling from the clouds. As the storm was far away I had the apeture open to f4 which is fine for distant lightning but terrible for a close flash. I have had to adjust in Camera Raw to get the details of the lightning stike as good as I can. not other adjustments have been done. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and the 18-200mm lens at f4 and 30sec exposure.