This isn't a tips page but a section where I show some of my early photographs and criticise what is wrong with them and say how they could have been improved. 

Example 1

This is my very first lightning photo.  It was taken in 1991, when I was only 13 years old. Obviously there is a lot which could be done to improve this photo.  The lightning is obscured by trees.  So moving to a better position would have been good - though fairly difficult at the time considering my license and car wouldn't appear on the scene for a few years yet and my parents weren't tolerant enough - not at 3am in the morning anyway! A bit of zooming in wouldn't have gone astray (given that you had a clear view of the storm) because there is a lot of wasted black space in this photo.  Also a longer exposure time would have been good to capture some detail in the foreground and possibly to capture more strikes.

Example 2

These three photos were from an incredible storm that went north of Cowell.  The photos were taken about a fortnight after my first, so still in 1991.  If only I had access to transport and the amount of knowledge I have now.  Still the use of a zoom lens even from where I was would have enhanced the photos.  The top photo must have been exposed for a reasonable time to capture all the bolts (I don't record exposure times- and can't remember back that far) but it is still dark, therefore I believe I would have had to small an aperture, probably an aperture of 8 or 11 which the books that I had read recommended, whereas an aperture of 4 or 5.6 would have been more suitable. 

Example 3

These photos were my third lot ever, I don't know if they were taken in late 1991 or early 1992, either way I was fairly happy when I saw the bottom shot.

There was not much I could do with this storm.  It wasn't very active which made choosing a spot to zoom in on fairly difficult.  The bottom picture could have been exposed for a bit longer.