Black Canyon of the Gunnison HDR

Here is a six shot HDR I took of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

I don't think the light was too interesting, but I was more interested in the technique -- trying to capture ten stops of light difference between the sky and the canyon without using GND's or too much dodge/burn. To me, the image seems fake, and I'm wondering if it's because we're so accustomed to our cameras' dynamic range that when we see such dynamic range captured, we know something's amiss. Of course, my technique is far from perfect, so that's the more likely explanation...

Let me know what you think.

-Jeff

Jeff, I think you actually did rather well with this HDR experiment.
That's a tough shot with unfiltered sunlight on the cliffs and deep canyon shadows.
The shadows look fine and the dynamic range is well balanced, IMHO.


My primary nit would be the sky. There appears to be a darkening toward the center, with broad light glows on both sides that are probably processing artifacts.

Jeff:

I think the HDR processing is okay, but the image just seems flat to me. missing mid-range contrast. The blue cast in the shadow (I know it's natural)also throws me off a little; a person wouldn't really see it when looking at the scene.

dan

Thanks for the tips so far. Dan -- You are totally right about that blue cast; here's a repost with it controlled a bit.

The blues in the shadows in #1 are way too strong. #2 looks much better.

#2 looks better, but still too blue on my monitor.

I agree with Morris, #2 looks better but is still too blue. I wouldn't mind seeing the shadows opened up even just a little bit more because you've got a nice foreground with the colorful foliage. Watch out for that hotspot just above the shadow on the right hand side too.

Thanks again for the comments. Here's another repost with more blue taken out, the shadows opened a bit, and some of the hotspots held back.