Touch the Sky Revisited

I have mentioned previously that I am revisiting some of my older images. This is mainly to help me evaluate whether I have learned anything over the past several years. Old dogs sometimes learn new tricks! In this example, there are no long stories, just examples of images processed in 2012 and 2018, respectively.

The originals were taken in Sedona from atop a small butte during what was leading up to a spectacular sunset. With visions of making the cover of Arizona Highways, I snapped away on a tripod with all settings the same except that I varied the shutter speed from 1/8000 sec down to 1/125 sec. These images were all combined in an HDR (high dynamic range) merge and developed from there in Photoshop. This technique can enable the photographer to include very bright objects such as the setting sun along with much darker areas such as a backlit log. Our eyes can compensate for such huge differences in luminosity, but not so much our cameras. Below is my original interpretation:

Touch the Sky - Original

Today I decided to have another go at this file just to see how I might interpret it now. I didn't even look at the original, wanting to approach it without preconceived notions, or at least a minimum of such. I started with three frames, originally exposed at 1/8000, 1/2000, and 1/250 sec, aligned them in Photoshop and blended them manually, using what I thought was the best of each. I also kept the vividness rather than de-saturating as I did with the original. A different look, a different feel. You say tow-MAH-tow, I say tow-MAY-tow. Preference for one versus the other version is a matter of taste.

Touch the Sky - Revisited

Same equipment and setting; shutter speeds as above

Is one "better" than the other? I don't know, maybe you do. If you feel strongly one way or the other, I look forward to your comments. In any event, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did sharing it!