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I get up every morning hoping to find a sky with this much texture and color. On this particular morning I was given a wonderful start to the day when I saw the colors start to intensify as the sun rose in the sky. The morning light and the wide range of light made this scene a natural for shooting it as a high dynamic range image. Even with such a wide range it was only necessary to use +2, 0 and -2 EV to capture the shadow details as well as the highlights and mid-tones. I try to keep the number of frames I use to a minimum to help combat the noise that inevitably occurs when underexposing the frame to capture the highlights and then merging them to create the HDR image.
The more I use HDR techniques and adjustments the more comfortable I become with them. In my book NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 is the leader for creating realistic HDR images with minimal halos and believable transitions across the tonal range. I want my images to convey a sense of the wonder I feel when I’m shooting them and the natural beauty in the scene. In this image I am very pleased with the balance of warm and cool light and the peaceful mood that accompanies sunrise on the river.
