Gawler Ranges, Outback SA

[photohiker]

I was recently invited on a short photo trip to the Gawler Ranges in SA. It's about 3 hours north east of Port Augusta, and the scenery is spectacular.

Highlight of the ranges is Lake Gairdner which repays early morning or late afternoon visits in spades:





We took an early morning trip out the Billy Can track, it's sometimes hard to get the photo you want with so many other photographers crawling over the scenery, but I still like this shot:



The old stockyards. This one is HDR, I'm going to have another go at it, I think it's a little too much:



Lots more on my Zenfolio

C&C welcome...

[jase80]

Great set of images. I especially like number 4. The light gives it a really great feeling.

[DanielA]

The old stockyards. This one is HDR, I'm going to have another go at it, I think it's a little too much:

I also like this one a lot. It does seem a little bit flat (i.e. needs more contrast), but that is common issue with HDR.

Daniel

[photohiker]

One thing for sure, you need to view the HDR image on it's own. As uncertain as I was of the above image, it looks worse next to the bright image above it.

Here is the same bracket blended rather than HDR'd

What do you think by comparison?

[DanielA]

Here is the same bracket blended rather than HDR'd
What do you think by comparison?

I think this bracketed version actually looks darker than the HDR. Sorry.
I would still go with the HDR version, but bump up the contrast to around +15 in photoshop. I've done it here and I think it looks great. Just play with the contrast slider and see what works for you.
It really is a great shot.

Daniel

p.s. I'm off to travel Japan for a few weeks, so don't expect a reply from me any time soon!