Cold Front Clouds on the Clear Fork

When the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles were getting hammered with snow we just had a cold blustery day with some great clouds(Ok, I might have seen two snowflakes fly by).

I had some family stuff that kept me from driving up into Oklahoma to see some of that snow but I was able to get out at dawn and walk the river. Here is one of the best ones. I was trying to max out the exposure time to get better movement in the clouds.

It was an HDR with Photomatix from 5 images.

I had played around with both the filters and doing multiple exposures for use with Photomatix.

I posted a couple samples on my blog where I used both HDR and another with a grad.

Note- before you tell me I should have done the same scene both ways-I know-I didn't. My lame excuse is I had just got in a new polarizer for use on the 10-20mm and was keen to try it out as much as make images. So the two posted on the blog are not the same scene. but they are the same river

50D
Sigma 10-20

Nice to find a stream that is not contaminated with white plastic! When I was in FTW a couple weeks ago the Trinity was littered with plastic trash bags, foam cups and other white debris! Ugly.

This photo, however, is quite lovely! That you used HDR is not at all obvious in this shot. It looks perfectly natural. Nicely done.

BTW - If you have a chance, check on the Kestrels at the old FTW Landfill. Access is off of 1st between Oakland and Beech. They often perch on the radio antenna next to the metal building near the road.

For a 5 shot HDR it doesn't have many of the tell tale signs that announce that fact. I like the subtle coloration in the clouds. The scene does look a little soft overall, possibly a result of time delayed movement during the exposures.

When you shoot for an HDR blend are you bracketing five exposures? I don't think I've ever bracketed a composition since going to digital but of course I used it almost exclusively when I was shooting Velvia 100 in days gone by. Just wondering.

Darren, I saw these on your blog yesterday and thought then that the HDR looked more natural. The color of the sky and grass seem much more natural and appealing to me. This image looks like I would imagine it which in my opinion is when an HDR is done well. Looks like jacket weather.

Nice composition BTW. The softness looks more a function of the downsize than anything because it doesn't look overly windy.

Thanks. I was pleased with how this HDR worked out. Sometimes it does not do it right. This time it did.

Daniel- I am not much of a wildlife photog but I will keep those Kestrels in mind.