One Step at a Time

This was taken for two main reasons:

1) I wanted to experiment with HDR having seen some cool pictures recently that use this technique to give a 'surreal' look to images.

2) I am not particularly keen on taking pictures of landscapes but do like looking at them, this was a new approach to see if it helped.

So, the opportunity to go for a wee walk arose so I brought the camera. This is Arthur's Seat which is pretty much out the back door of my house. I know that this isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I feel that it's a good record of an experiment and want to post it anyway.

I do like the fact that the lighter paths on the hill are illuminated and the texture of the rocky path (foreground) is really highlighted by the toning and contextualised by some blur from the wide aperture. The sun was right behind the hill so the glow from the background is also quite cool but perhaps a bit overpowering. I do also like the combination of the rat's-eye angle and the natural incline of the path - it seems to divide the frame nicely in half.

As I say, this is an experiment! I like elements of it and am not so keen on some other aspects but I find it interesting nevertheless. Knowing that I was planning to experiment with HDR certainly made me enjoy trying to photograph a landscape more as it made me think more of lighting etc.

I'd be particularly interested to hear thoughts on this as it's really new territory to me.