"Dawn's Subterranean Treasures"

This is a combination of three exposures, manually blended in Photoshop. The primary information is pulled from two exposures, one for the pump jack and another for the sky. I purposely darkened the pump jack to render it as a partial silhouette, yet I wanted enough information to display the colors and detail. The sky was intentionally rendered dark to recreate the ominous feel. The third exposure was necessary because I did not want the godbeams and direct sunlight to be reduced to pure white. Therefore, a severe underexposure was utilized to allow for all of the tones and colors. This would be somewhere between EDR and HDR, yet I feel the image best represents how this dynamic scene appeared to my eyes at the moment of capture.

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Very nice...

I believe that this may be the masterpiece of your new methodology from a process perspective. While the composition may be less than enthralling; what you have done in blending the three images to ensure adequate lighting and details on the pumpjack/FG, the over all sky, and then to accentuate the chiaroscuro effect of the Godbeams, sun, and dark clouds is compelling stuff. This is like a painting, and I believe that you've achieved an effect in this photograph that very, very few others could have. I say, "Bravo!" Cheers! Chris

Thanks Carlos and Chris! One of those mornings where I got up and out early thinking I would be in for a grand sunrise. Well, I almost got back to the house (it was a fizzle skunk) when I saw some color start to leak out from the murk along the horizon. When I made it back, things started getting spirited with light shooting sideways. Not much I could do with the comp because of the direction of light so I went for the full monty.

... is not a word I use unsparingly Mark, But Im blown away by your Industrial vision. What a find.Toast toast