don't mean to be rude but i'd say that first one is a bad attempt at hdr. the idea is to get perfect exposure everywhere in your photo, and yours is too bright (at least from what i can tell on my monitor at work). how were your original files exposed? maybe they were too bright to begin with?
I think my biggest issues as I sit down and study these pics, was
#1 I didn't bracket enough. I used -1, 0, 1. As I've been learning about HDR, I'm discovering that I should have done more -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 or something to that extent.
#2 I hauled my dang tripod all the way up there, and realized that the bracket for the tripod was at home attached to my better camera (didn't want to take my professional camera on a camping trip). So I just shot it hand held.
#3 When we got to the top, it almost looked foggy or misty. I used my polarizer hoping to get a better pic, but it really didn't do much. That's why it's so bright, the haze was not working in my favor.
#4 I should have shot in RAW. Enough said there!
Hopefully I can learn from my mistakes and do better next time.
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/42/42230-fa8ace50a80342c7d91db1431f911bab.jpg?1734176608)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/31/31042-2fcf80c8987688129be89876d12ba006.jpg?1734159146)
