Exploring different techniques.

[North Light]

Stangergill Burn at Castletown Mill, a location that fascinates me, but rarely produces a photograph that pleases me, the light through the trees is the attraction, but also the problem, controlling the contrast to get a good balance between the highlights and shadows is often a problem.
Last week the bright December sunshine gave rise to another attempt at this location.
Below are three different versions of the same photograph, the first an HDR from multiple images, then processed as a Black & White, the second a colour HDR from multiple images, and finally an image from a single exposure, underexposed from the meter reading.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/north_light/4172483124/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/north_light/4173492817/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/north_light/4174651988/

My personal favourite is the Black & White, followed by the single exposure, I would be interested to hear other peoples views.

[nirofo]

Prefer the final image from a single exposure, it looks more natural, the lighting on the trees and the ground below them is very nice, in fact apart from the slightly dark foreground it's a very nice picture.

nirofo.

[shazzap]

Prefer 2nd image.

[Kenn]

I like all 3...agree it's a hard spot to get a decent angle on even standing in the stream!

[Mystical Potato Head]

I prefer No2, i do like the slightly richer colour of the grass and darker sky compared to No3.

[John Baikie]

I prefer the 3rd. Not a fan of HDR, so it looks more real. HDR is one of those things that only works from time to time (IMO) and can ruin an image as often as it improves it. I like a landscape picture to look realistic. It is a tricky location to shoot and you did a good job!

[North Light]

Thank you all for your comments, I must say that I agree with John about HDR and landscape images, my predominate focus is to try and keep my landscapes as natural as possible, if they look overtly processed then I have failed.
But I do think HDR does have a place in photography, if done well, so that it's not immediately obvious that its an HDR it can be extremely effective for interiors of buildings, where the contrast range is outside the cameras ability to record in a single shot, remember, or eyes are capable of a much bigger dynamic range than the best of the current crop of digital cameras, I am also becoming increasingly interested in its use with images that are produced as Black & Whites.
This image of old quarry buildings at Achscrabster was taken on a unpromising December day, and I like the softness that the HDR processing has added to the grasses.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/north_light/4169755870/

[Deemac]

No.2 for me also. Just love HDR as long as its not over processed which you've managed very nicely.