Still playing with different ways to try to try to get “photo realistic” images taken with 2-3 shots, not using any HDR tools. HDR tools are great and have their place, but they are pretty much useless when you are taking a shot of a tree blowing in the wind. (Bracketed shots do not line up when things are moving). Im really trying to find a good way to do this, but there are always footprints and not so easy to get the dynamic range out of them I want. Its a good challenge.

This is a blend of 2 images, no HDR tools- both originally taken as RAW files. The main image was taken on a Canon 5DII , Canon 16-35mm 2.8 L lens, settings were 1/100, f 7.1, ISO 400. The second image I used to “clean up” the over exposure was the same only 1/400. Both images were tweaked with Michael Andrew Paintballer Pro Presets before merging.

There are a number of challenges and problems in trying to do this, especially when the wind is blowing, but I am slowly learning a few more little tricks to try to squeeze as much detail out of the shadows, without blowing out the sky too much.

This was the final result: