Castillo San Marco - St. Augustine

[Michael Pancier]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3509723476_5e7d527a20_o.jpg

Before heading out to the farm for the birds, I'd get up early to shoot the sunrise out in one of my favorite cities. Here's one of the Castillo. This is a 3 image HDR.

50d + 17-85 USM IS at f/16
ISO 100

I opted not to go with full silhouette as I wanted some subtle detail in the rock. Likewise, I did not go for a full blown HDR as I liked the deeper colors.

So give me your feedback, vis a vis the Fort... good as is; bring up the detail, or go all black.

[Grady Weed]

Michael, the thumbnail does not do this one justice. One nice image here. The sun, palm trees, the cloud faintly moving over the sun, all are the strong points here. To me the Castillo is a side dish, but a delicious one. The gradual silhouette needs to be a bit stronger, lighter on the bottom 2/3 rds, in order to bring out some more interest. As is, it is just a tease. The railing is OK and adds interest. I like that you choose deep colors over depth of the HDR process. This is one of your best landscapes i've seen. This would make a good printed poster for tourism. Seriously.

[Dave Mills]

Hey Michael, I like your image very much. If it were mine I would take a bit off the bottom to the edge of the feint road. All in all, well handled.

[John Blumenkamp]

Nice work Michael... really like the play between the silhouettes. Only idea would be to crop more from the bottom and/or add more to the top in the original composition. Great as is... nice job!

[Paul Marcellini]

This is really nice Michael. I agree with Dave and John, take a touch off the bottom.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Michael,
Agree with the bottom road removal. I do like the subtle tones and don't mind that it isn't a silhouette......would be interesting to see that version for comparison.....but I think I prefer this version. Nice balnce between the palms and the fort.

[Rich Ikerd]

Super sunrise image Michael. I think you got the right amount of detail in the foreground to really complement that wonderful sky color - going silhouette would be to over-powering. I think you've got the right balance here.