HDR in nature

Gorgeous shot and a perfect demonstration that it doesn't always need to be about blingy skies and reflections.

The exposure on this shot is spot on with the light filtering in from the right and casting delightful shadows throughout the woodland.

Again, its about timing, its just after dawn, the sun is low in the sky, which allows it to cast these shadows and beams of light that really make this shot work.

Shoot this at midday and you get a picture of some trees, shoot it during the golden hour on an autumnal morning and control your exposure and the magic happens and the author clearly knows this and set out with something like this in mind.

The autumnal palette balances nicely across the image and with the exposure controlled as it is, there is detail in the shadows and the highlights aren't blown. The image is clean, with very little noise as the ISO has been kept low and the camera on a tripod.

The only slight distraction that i can see is the blue green that shows through on the far left. At first, i though it could be sky but on second though, I'm not sure what it is - but its a minor thing and most wouldn't see it unless you were looking closely at the image for a while.

However, its a very well composed image and i'm now going to have to look up 'beech woodlands in Oxford' and take a run out there.

Great job and worthy of my top 5.

What a lovely place for a walk!

I really love the coastal path taking us down the side of the image, with the sun setting over the water. This is another image where the author has got a well balanced shot and nailed the exposure.

There are details in the shadows and the only blowout in the sky is the sun itself. I love the tree line on the left, it suggests that this coast might get significant wind coming in over the water that the trees lean inwards.

My one minor niggle is the horizon - its not quite straight. Its very close to straight but it slopes down right to left and is noticeable.

Compositionally, if it were my image, I might try a slight crop and to move the sun onto the right hand third mark. I think it might enhance the image - but then again - thats just my opinion.

However, its still a great image and certainly worthy of being commended and only just missed out on my top 10.

Nice work.

What a sky!

As with a lot of my top 10, its all about handling the exposure and keeping detail within the image. Anytime that you are shooting into the light you have to be careful not to overexpose areas of the sky or lose detail in the shadows and this has been handled very well in this image.

The slight vignetting and darker ominous thunderclouds lead you into the image with the central burst of orange from the sun backlighting the clouds and well positioned tree. The cloudburst works well as does the lightening strike. You were very lucky with the lightening or this could have been added in post but I don't have any issue with it if it was as it works within the image.

The only slight issue I have with the image is the tree. The framing of the tree in that location works for me, but the processing of the tree makes it look slightly out of place with the rest of the image, almost cliparty, as the highlights on the front don't seem to match with the positioning of the light in the scene. I suspect that this is probably down to pulling detail out of the silhouette of the tree.

Having said that, this image is all about the drama of a thunderstorm filled sunset sky and as an entry into a nature/landscape HDR image competition, it delivers in spades and is definitely worthy of being in my top 5.

Well done.

Boom! - This one has a dramatic sky that hits you in the face screaming 'pick me!'

It's one of those skies that photographers dream of and why a marked it up for a closer look and review with the possibility of a top 10 position.

It's the sky and the reflections in the water that really make this image. Shooting during the golden hour around sunrise or sunset often leads to dramatic skies like this one and I'm sure its no accident that the author had placed themselves here for this image.

The choice of a long exposure works well in smoothing out the water giving that glassy reflections - i presume that it was a still day as there is little movement in the clouds/boats that you often associate with a long exposure.

My only criticism with the image is that it is noisy when viewed at full resolution, i suspect that a lot of this could be the result of over sharpening but it is those little things that ultimately moved this image out of my top 10.

Have a play with dialing back the sharpening or gently applying some NR and see whether that works for you, in my opinion, it might.

Having said that, at lower/medium resolutions - this image really has that wow factor and has the kind of sky and reflections that grab the viewer and why it still warrants a commendation.

Well done.

Wow! This one caught my eye and has stayed in my top 5 and been a leading contender for 1st place.

The quality and detail of the image along with the handling of the exposure is 1st class.

As with a lot of landscape photography, timing and sky content can make or break an image. Had this been shot at midday or with a clear sky, it would be a nice shot but not a great shot but the author knows this and I'm guessing that it wasn't an accident that they were positioned here, during the golden hour of sunset, to take this image and making sure that you are in the right place at the right time for dramatic skies and sun kissed mountains can really make a shot.

As mentioned, I love the detail throughout the shot, especially the dramatic sky. The exposure is handled very well with no heavily blown out areas and good detail held in the shadows, there is a touch of noise in some areas but it is minimal and your choice of a low ISO and longer exposure time has helped in this area.

Compositionally, the lead in from the ridge in the bottom left to the small church works well. Purists could argue that the church is not a 'natural' feature in a 'nature/landscape' competition - but to me it really helps put a sense of scale to the image and positioning this around the 1/5th rather than the 1/3rd really showcases the landscape rather than the church - and I'm judging :-) I like the recession of the mountains layering into the distance and the timing of the image with the sky lit up and the 2 rosy sun kissed tips of the mountains lit up by the fading sunset. The line between the mountains and sky has been handled well, it is very clean with no signs of halos or chromatic aberrations that can often manifest between contrasting areas.

Definitely, the kind of image anyone would be proud to have taken.

Well done.

Simply stunning but i'm guessing you know that already! This was always going to be in the top 5 for me and it was so nearly my top choice.

The level of detail throughout this image is gorgeous, the handling of the highlights and shadows is spot on maintaining detail at the extremes. The dusting of the snow and sunlit peaks, the autumnal colours on the right, the tiny second boat disappearing around the back, its all there in beautiful detail.

The positioning of the boat on the thirds as it cruises into the image really works for drawing the eye into the image. The central positioning of the horizon works so well with water images when you have this kind of reflections and you've used that to great effect.

However, and there had to be one or this would have placed first, there appear to be a couple of oddities when I was viewing at full resolution. I'm not sure of the processing you used but there are some very odd black and grey markings behind the boat on the left of the image and again on the reflection of the prow of the boat. To me, they look a bit like the kind of artefact that is sometimes seen with software packages when blending bracketed shots, especially on water. However, you don't mention bracketing, so it could well be something different. I'd be interested to know either way, please drop me a message - it's the only fault in a stunning image, and hopefully an easy fix.

I'm hoping that you will take a look at it, mutter to yourself (in the same way I do when I post a wonky horizon and only spot it after posting or have it pointed out to me) and fix it - at that point i'd possibly be tempted to find a space on the wall and buy a print and frame it!

Well done.