September Sky

The arrival of autumn in Ohio provides some of the best opportunities for

skyscapes at sunset. I like working with interesting foreground elements,

here using a historic barn near my home in Centerville. Three-exposure for

HDR enabled me to capture the color of the reflected sunlight in the upper

layer of clouds.

I really like this image but when I looked closer something looked not quite right.  It think it is the very warm tone of the light in the sky and the blue cold tone of the light on the barn and the dodging of the foreground.  But anyway I like the way it turned out and it caused me to look several times.  Very nice.

One of the biggest challenges with HDR (IMO, of course) is to get realistic lighting.  Here, you have a late evening sky and a late afternoon barn.  They just don't match, even as the eye would see it.  Also, you have the sun setting behind the barn but the bush on the left being lit from the other direction; it doesn't go together.  It's a nice scene if you can get control of the light.

Interesting critiques. The fact is that the sky has not been moved-in as another layer, from another area or separate image. Some adjustments were used in the foreground for contrast and sharpness, and noise was reduced in the sky, but the elements throughout this image were in fact true to the actual scene. The direction flight is unique duet the dynamics of varying types of clouds and setting sun.

The following is one of the original exposures of this scene, used in the final HDR image -

 

Jim, I didn't say (nor did I mean to imply) that the sky was moved in as a separate layer.  What I'm saying is that the HDR processing has affected the sky to give it what I call an "evening look," while the same processing has produced a "late afternoon" look to the lower portion of the photo.  Same with the apparent direction of light -- I think it's all due to the HDR processing.  Of these, I think the biggest detraction for my eye is the contrast in light/time between the sky and the ground.  HDR (especially as applied by photomatrix) has the power to produce a "realistic" image, similar to that seen by the eyes, or a highly altered image that is very different than what could ever be seen by the eyes.  I think this photo lies somewhere between those extremes, probably closer to the former than what is possible in the latter.