Little Missouri Falls

This is a 5 stop HDR that I took on Monday morning. I usually dont like HDR much, but I thought this looked alright when I ran it through Photomatix. The wind wouldn't ever die down totally so there is a little movement in the trees.

This is very nice. Photomatix is a great tool to use. It gets a bad rap with all the extreme hdr that folks do with it. When used properly it can produces wonderful natural looks. Great example of what it can do. Well done.

Beautiful image, Jon....well blended.
Joe Rogers

Jon, great use of Photomax as Brad pointed out. The light in BG pulls your eye through the scene.

Although I've never experimented with HDR, this is a fine example of how to do it properly in my estimation. Aside from that, it's also a well composed image with some great lighting. Beautiful job, Jon!

At a glance its only the water ripples that give a hint of HDR. Nicely done.

Quite an inviting scene Jon; I really like the lighting, colors, and reflection in the pool of water. I need to get down there and spend some more time on the Little Missouri.

Beautiful greens and some wonderful light in the background. The ripples do look a bit HDRed, but a nice job blending nonetheless. Very nice, Jon.

Guess I'm kind of different - and wondering why HDR was needed in this photo - certainly the dynamic range was well within your sensor's range, wasn't it? The foreground water is really black and looks kind of odd, and the trees and rocks are rather crunchy - I guess this is what HDR does? (I've never used it, but most photos I've seen it used on just looked very unnatural to me - I guess the term is grunge.) The reflected pool looks nice, but the rest of it does not look right to me. Is this what it really looked like? (I bet the unprocessed scene was lovely.)

I absolutely LOVE it! After the week I have had, this is the peace I have been longing for! Thank you!

Jon, I think the HDR added to the scene...It is a well composed picture, but without the extra punch, I feel it would have just been another image...The HDR makes your eye take in every aspect. You did a good job processing it. The only thing in it that bothers me are the rocks to the right. They are a little too defined. I may have done a little blending to mask some of that. Great image!

HDR wasn't needed at all in the photo, but it did add a lot of punch (maybe too much) like Karla said. It's fun to play around with every once in a while. I think the foreground water being black is actually the rocks under the water. HDR really makes everything stand out so much more and it is pretty challenging to get it to look natural. Anyways here is a single raw file I worked up that looks normal for comparison:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4605937704_cf4c33ff0a_o.jpg

Hey Jon - yes, your natural image is much better! Out with the grunge look - save Captan Crunch for breakfast!