My First HDR: Sunset in the Grand Canyon

[TexKen]

Originally Posted by Simplycandid

I think it needs to be level ( the rock line in the center) I dig the rays of the sun :)

Thanks Shannon - I always seem to forget the leveling part.

[scottbuckel]

I think compositionally you have a good image, but as others have said it is over done. I have not had much luck processing HDR with Photoshop as I have much more experience with Photomatix. I really have not figured out how the PSCS5 sliders work, though I have seen many good HDRs from it.

To me you completely tonally flatten the entire image, you need to add contrast. This is the most common issue starting out with HDR. The halos you have, such as in the water are from pushing the processing to far. If you look at the image closely what you will see is there are almost no significant shadows, and shadows are important to define the image ans give depth to the image.

Keep trying and have some fun with it as HDR can be fun,

Scott