Storm over Yaounde

This time of the year there are no shortage of thunder storms in our area. And for this Southern California boy who is used to a mere 12"/yr of rain, I welcome violent storms. During a power outage on Monday I looked out the window to see if the next quartier had electricity, and I noticed this storm south of our house. But what caught my eye were the stars. It's not often that I am able to witness a storm and see the stars at the same time. This meant a mad dash for my camera, tripod and all the other little bits I'd need for long exposures. Et voila!

Now the photo below is the same as above with the exception of the lightening bolt, which by the way really happened. However, it actually occurred 8 frames earlier. Since this photos' composition/exposure were better, I brought the bolt over in PS. A little cheating, but I get points for honesty right?

Unfortunately Blogger dumbs down the quality of the photos, so you can see pixelated mess in the dark sky. If you know how to fix this then I would love to hear from you.