Missouri Breaks Sunrise

The textures and light are very appealing, Doug. Top edge seems a bit light to me, but that may be personal preference. The image looks amazingly natural to me. Your blending is first-rate.

Doug, looks like you've been taking advantage of the nice sunsets we've had lately. It would be nice to see a little more detail on the background cottonwoods but this looks like some pretty difficult light. As is I really like the grass in the foreground and the reflection in the river. Nice light! Great job with the blend on this one.

Excellent color Doug in the sky and reflection Doug, but I especially love the light on the fore ground grasses.

Your blending of the 4 exposures certainly worked well. The details and light on the foreground grasses provides a superb foreground for the warm light and color in the background. Outstanding, especially the large image.

This is a winner, Doug. I love the mood and the colors. This is one of those images that is not only technically amazing it is one that illicits an emotional response from me. Another home run.

Outstanding! Superbly composed and executed. My only critique is that the landscape in the background and the skyscape are both darker than their reflections.

Thanks all. I think some of the lightness of the water reflection is due to a layer of mist, especially over by the distant shore.

Funny, i personally find the bright highlites on the grasses totally confusing--it looks like direct sunlight on them, which obviously isnt the case. Personally, i just dont see the need for 4 exposures for a shot like this, it seems to me 1 or 2 would work fine, there isnt a huge amount of DR here. I love the bg here, but the fg just looks like a seperate photo to me. Im evidently in the great minority here--so feel free to ignore my critique!

Lol - Stan, you're always my toughest critic, that's what I love about ya man! ...seriously, I always value your honest and thoughtful opinion. The sky above me was fairly overcast, which is what I believe reflected the highlights on the grass. As for the dynamic range, there was a 3 stop difference between the sky and the fg, so 3 exposures were blended for exposure - one for the brightest parts of the sky, one for the rest of the sky, the bg land and the river, and one for the grass. The 4th exposure was for focus, to make sure the closest grass, which was only about 6 inches from the lens, was in focus.

I really enjoy this top to bottom. I fell like I'm standing there watching the sunrise unfold... beautiful work!

I agree that it looks really natural. Excellent color and just enough detail to make it feel like it must have looked to you.

Hey Doug

This is sweet. I love the f/g, and was amazed to read it's only 6" away. The glow is awesome. Very well done .. it doesn't "leap out" at me .. it's more subtle. I love this.

And the blending is excellent. Great job.

Cheers

Carl