The Forests of Magoebaskloof

[Morkel Erasmus]

South Africa has so many biomes and diverse ecosystems to explore.
This photo was taken one morning in Magoebaskloof, one of the most pristine stretches of natural forest in the country (situated in the far north of Limpopo province).

2-exposure HDR rendered in Lightroom's new module, and further tweaked in PS and Nik Color Efex.
It was a misty morning so I had to wait a bit to get the sun to break through and provide the starburst I was after.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 @ 14mm
f16 | ISO-100 (2 exposures)

[Don Lacy]

Morkel, These type of images are really hard to pull off there is so much going on in the frame the viewers eye can get lost. I think you did a really nice job here with the sunstar anchoring the image and the light leading the viewer into the image. I also like the frame the branch provides around the sun.

[Don Railton]

Hi Morkel

HDR rendering has come a long way on the last 5 years IMHO.. this is a lovely scene very nicely nicely processed, with only maybe a hint of the old HDR 'look' appearing upper centre along the trunk of the tree.. A very cool and inviting scene..

DON

[Andrew McLachlan]

Very nice Morkel...you organized the chaos very well and great sunstar...have you tried using the D800's built-in HDR?

[Morkel Erasmus]

Very nice Morkel...you organized the chaos very well and great sunstar...have you tried using the D800's built-in HDR?

Not really Andrew, don't want to have to shoot in JPG and would rather blend the RAW files in post?

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks guys :5