Toji Temple grounds, Kyoto, Japan

[Ron Bernstein]

This is a 5-shot HDR with Nik HDR efex pro, shot without a tripod - I kept my D3 still on a rock in the foreground. F 10, ISO 400, Nikkor 16-35 f 4 @ 26 mm. Nik dfine because I didn't like the resulting grain in the sky, even though the D3 usually has no grain issues at this ISO. Then I used the new Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and selenium toned the image. Finished in cs5 with a stroke, slight contrast adjustment, then sharpened with nik sharpener pro. This is a valentine to NIK - I love their products and use them all, except for Viveza, which I don't know much about! And yes, if you love silver efex pro, you'll want to upgrade to their new version 2! Comments appreciated!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Ron, I like the effect along with the conversion.Good foreground with the rocks leading you to the rear. Due to this being in B&W there is no color differentiation between various subjects so some areas within are tending to merge with each other.(primarily the foliage behind the pond) I might crop out the cut wooden bldg on the left. All in all I like your treatment...

[Ron Bernstein]

I thought I'd post the HDR color rendition to see which one you think works better for the subject!
Thanks.

[Indranil Sircar]

Ron, I like the color version better; it brings out depth here. Lovely scene and composition.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Ron, Agree with Indranil on the color version. The light is pleasingly soft and the individual elements stand out due to better separation.

[Morkel Erasmus]

have to say the colour version gets my vote too Ron! the B&W one gets mushy with too much detail and contrast :)

[Tim Munsey]

I prefer the colour one, much easier on the eye.

Tim

[Robert Amoruso]

Actually I like both and would prefer the b&w version with the tweaks needed to provide better color separation to eliminate the merging gray tones. This generally requires the manipulation of various colors to increase or decrease the luminance values to provide such separation.

In the repost I used a levels correction to set a black and white point. The JPG had both clipped. I then used Shadow/Highlight adjustment to open up shadows, tone highlights and increase mid-tone contrast.

Overall, I love all the details. I feel the objection to the OP is due to the large areas of detailess blacks.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ron,
On tour in Florida so limited time......another vote for the color version as it does have more depth. Agree with Dave on LH structure.......wont hurt eliminating it as all the FG rocks are already cut!

[Ed Cordes]

I prefer the color version and like the B&W also. The color version looks very inviting and the B&W version loks striking and almost IR. FWIW, I think both are a bit too sharp. Just my $0.02.