Lonely Road

Posted by Don Smith (California, United States) on 24 July 2008 in Landscape & Rural.

One of my favorite roads to drive near my home is named Quien Sabe Road. It traverses over the rolling hillsides of the Diablo range in central California. The light values between the sky and the land were too extreme for my sensor to capture on this evening so I decided to do an HDR image combining five separate 1-stop exposures. As you know if you follow my blog, Photomatix Pro is my favorite software. If you are interested in purchasing the software, please use my code at checkout: donsmithphotography and you will receive a 15% discount. To see more of my HDR images, learn about my upcoming workshops, read my "how to" articles and more, please visit my website at Don Smith Photography

Comments (22)

Marion from Nanaimo, BC, Canada

Don this is so gorgeous. I am going to have to have a look at your Photomatix Pro program. Almost scared too, because I love editing programs and you know, money, money, money.

24 Jul 2008 5:29am

bm from Budapest, Hungary

Gorgeous shot - wonder how it would've looked like without the HDR, but it is simply beautiful...must be a real joy living amidst such beauty...

24 Jul 2008 8:52am

Peter Mannfolk from Landskrona, Sweden

Very nice use of HDR, i.e. taking advantage of the increased dynamic range without inducing those halo artefacts. And even the sky turned out natural which isn´t always the case in HDR images. /Peter

24 Jul 2008 9:01am

Kent from Sweden

Delightful nature picture with lovely color

24 Jul 2008 9:13am

Kylie Greenan from Richmond, Australia

It's a beautiful lonely road, very well captured and processed, well done!

24 Jul 2008 9:52am

Querques from Palleja, Spain

A very nice photo, perfect edition. Wonderful colours

24 Jul 2008 11:18am

shahab from Qazvin, Iran

Fantastic HDR shot!Beautiful sky & a really lovely road!

24 Jul 2008 11:19am

MOHAMMAD from BANDAR ABBAS, Iran

nice shot

24 Jul 2008 11:33am

Cia from Kvänum, Sweden

Wonderful picture! Great colors and beautiful landscapes!

24 Jul 2008 11:44am

Stefan from Thiersee, Austria

good work , wonderful capture!

24 Jul 2008 12:04pm

Don Smith from California, United States

Good Morning to all,

Thanks for all your comments. My goal in using HDR (and I'm not always successful) is to make the image look as natural as possible. As I'm sure you are all aware, anything outside of 51/2 - 6 stops is not going to be captured. Split-grads are nice, and I do use them, but HDR is awesome!

24 Jul 2008 1:35pm

One from Açores, Portugal

Really great use of light to create a superb atmosphere!

24 Jul 2008 2:53pm

Paco Díaz from Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Very good landscape, great angle and colors.

24 Jul 2008 6:49pm

Stéphane from Bruxelles, Belgium

Very nice scene and colors. The sky is wonderful.

24 Jul 2008 7:14pm

Ted from South Wales, United Kingdom

Nice one Don!

24 Jul 2008 9:13pm

Mohamed from Montreal, Canada

The composition and colors are spectacular.

24 Jul 2008 9:34pm

DarkElf from Perth, Australia

superb composition and the HDR technique allowed for extraction of some wonderful colours! nice work...

25 Jul 2008 2:28am

Don Smith from California, United States

Hello everyone,

I appreciate all of your comments - thanks!

25 Jul 2008 12:58pm

Helma from Tehran, Iran

Hi Don ,
WOW .. Amazing image !!! Wonderful and beautiful shot .. excellent !
thank you so much for kindly attention on my blog , unfortunately my activities was reduced in am3 for a while ...

25 Jul 2008 7:30pm

Ana Lúcia from Leiria, Portugal

It's a glorious nature composition.

25 Jul 2008 8:57pm

Don Smith from California, United States

Hi Helma and Ana,

Thanks for adding your comments. Helma, I'm glad everything is alright with you!

26 Jul 2008 2:28am

_ H o M o _ from Tehran, Iran

nice,very nice shot

30 Jul 2008 6:31pm

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III
3/5 seconds
F/23.0
ISO 200
32 mm

Lonely Road

Marion from Nanaimo, BC, Canada

bm from Budapest, Hungary

Peter Mannfolk from Landskrona, Sweden

Kent from Sweden

Kylie Greenan from Richmond, Australia

Querques from Palleja, Spain

shahab from Qazvin, Iran

MOHAMMAD from BANDAR ABBAS, Iran

Cia from Kvänum, Sweden

Stefan from Thiersee, Austria

Don Smith from California, United States

One from Açores, Portugal

Paco Díaz from Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Stéphane from Bruxelles, Belgium

Ted from South Wales, United Kingdom

Mohamed from Montreal, Canada

DarkElf from Perth, Australia

Don Smith from California, United States

Helma from Tehran, Iran

Ana Lúcia from Leiria, Portugal

Don Smith from California, United States

_____ H o M o _____ from Tehran, Iran

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_ H o M o _ from Tehran, Iran