Glade Creek Grist Mill (HDR)

Hi Gregory, I find the grass in the lower left corner distracting. Maybe I would even crop away the left upper corner with the blue sky. I also find that the image is a little over-saturated, especially the trees.

When shooting on a sunny day there's always the problem with hard shadows, which show up for example on the house wall and on the rock, but also in the water, resulting in areas with blown-out highlights.

I think there's a lot of potential here, but at this time of the day it's sometimes difficult to deal with the light (and shadows) ...

Kind regards, Alex

Hi Gregory,

I think you have found a natural balance that is very pleasing with this HDRI. The old mill nestled in the forest is a wonderful subject. I wonder which program are you using? My only critical thought is in regard to the little patch of sky, the gradient doesn't seem as natural as the rest of the scene. I realize this may be due to my monitor but regardless a very nice HDRI.

Regards

KW

Thanks, I agree on the sky.  It's not as bad in CS5 as it is in JPG, but I have been trying to work in Photoshop to find someway to even out that little patch of sky.  Ideally I'd just take the patch of sky from the shot that was taken at -2 f stops.  And yes the trees are very saturated, but I have actually set the green down significantly.

An overcast day would probably make this much easier, since you could easily crop out the sky and you would be left with just trees/mill/water with no shadows.

Thanks for the comments

I find it over done.   The patch of sky was obviously touched up.

The greens are over done.

Less is more!

I like the shot of the old mill. For me the shadows help soften the sunlight.

The sky and the water in the very front are the weak points .IMHO. I  recommend a crop to remove part of both.

Pat

Gregory:  An overcast day would have been better.  As others have said the speckled shadow areas detract from the image.  I find that the HDR eliminates too much contrast.  I'm not sure about the extra long time exposure.  The water appears a little blurry because of it.  Alan.