LIGHTNING EFFECT
Step1: add a new layer and name it Lightening.
Step2: set the foreground colour to black, and background to white. Make sure the Lightening layer is select. Using the Gradient tool apply a Black-to-White Linear gradient by dragging the curson from the top left to the bottom right.
Step3: Now apply Filter->Render->Difference Clouds.
Step4: Invert the tones by selecting Image->Adjustment->Invert (Ctrl-I) You can start making out the lightening across the middle of the image
Step5: Now accentuate the lightening bolt using Image->Adjustment->Level (Ctrl-L). Move the middle slider (gamma) to the right setting its value to 0.1 and move the left slider (shadows) to the right for a value around 150-160
Step6: Using a large soft brush and the colour set to black, clean up the image. You want to keep the main lightening bolt, but get rid of other stray areas.
Step7: Adjust the colour using Image->Adjustment->Hue/Saturation (Ctrl-U). Check the Colorize box and move Hue to around 220 and the Saturation to 35. The values are up to you. But my selection gave a blueish tint.
Step8: Change the Blending mode of the Lightening layer to Screen
Step9: Just like any layer, you can transform and manipulate the lightening bolt. I used Edit->Free Transform (Ctrl-T) to move the bolt around as shown
Step10 (Optional): I applied Filter->Render->Lens Flare to the wheel to exaggerate the effect of the lightening on the front rim.
The Final Product
