First Turn

For some reason most of my students are eager to be first for everything :S3:... I wonder if it is the same for poplars?
7 image HDR of Fall's first turnings around my pond. HDR Efex Pro and Topaz 5. Front lit with low angle light filtered through trees behind me.
All C&C welcome.

Steve, Beautiful vibrant colors. Just a hint of a halo at the tree line on the right. You've got some lovely detail throughout the image.:S3:

I especially like Fall's colors when they're just beginning to turn, and you've captured that, well. The light color of the trunks adds a lot, as does the foreground grasses. Halos can be an issue with HDRs, but that can fall into the personal preference category. If you don't want to have them, one way to handle it would, of course, be to use the sky from one of your exposures. Because it's so uncloudlike and is there, all by itself, leading the eye out of the image, I'd be tempted to either heal away that wispy cloud near the center or substitute a more interesting sky.

Beautiful fall scene, Steve! I love the bright colors and all the detail throughout the image. Well done.

Steve, Great colors. I like how the orange is framed. Very nice Fall scene, with super details throughout. Nicely done.

Thanks folks! Here's a version with a different sky and less halos. Fun masking exercise. I liked the "sky glow" of the original and I agree, Dennis, that it is a preference sometimes. A cloudless sky could also frame the trees in an interesting way. You have to love all the possibilities. :S3:

Nice job of masking. I'm sure it wasn't a trivial exercise, but I like the result.

A delightful autumn scene, lovely colors and I particularly like the silver trunks. I like the repost with more clouds by a slight margin.

Steve, Both posts are terrific!:S3: