HDR trying to not cross that line.

[Dan Berg]

On the drive from Napa Valley to the pacific coast.
Trying to keep it as natural looking as possible? D800E

[kencameron]

I don't think you have crossed any line. Is it an HDR shot, though, in the sense that you have blended different exposures? If so, why, particularly with a D800E which they tell me gives pretty good dynamic range anyway? If it is a blended HDR perhaps that explains a certain muddiness which is unavoidable  whether or not you are using a tripod with multiple blended exposures of very high frequency detail like foliage or grass, because alignment can't be perfect. I say "perhaps" because I can't be confident of what I am seeing on a small screen - but it does look less than tack sharp, which isn't what I would expect with your camera.

[jeremypayne]

On the drive from Napa Valley to the pacific coast.
Trying to keep it as natural looking as possible? D800E

Not sure why you felt the need to use HDR here ... what was the thinking there?

[Dan Berg]

Not sure why you felt the need to use HDR here ... what was the thinking there?

Was just playing around the story of my life
Used the 70-200vr propped on a fence post.
Will have to dig out the properly exposed raw do a little work to it and then compare to this one.

[Larry Heath]

Lovely shot. Not over the top by any means. Only one thing, in my book, that damn red barrel has got to go!

Later Larry

[BartvanderWolf]

On the drive from Napa Valley to the pacific coast.
Trying to keep it as natural looking as possible? D800E

Hi Dan,

It doesn't have the (by me) dreaded over-the-top processed look, but (not knowing the actual scene) I'd have rendered it a bit darker. It also doesn't look like a scene that really required shooting it as an HDR, but I wasn't there so my impression is only based on your tonemapped result.

Cheers,
Bart

[Dan Berg]

Here is the raw and HDR beside each other.
The Edit JPEG is the HDR.

[SunnyUK]

Firstly, the HDR version does not seem to have the artifacts (halos, weird shadows, ...) that HDR having crossed that line often have. So well done for reining it in. 

Secondly, I think you could achieve the same tonality by editing the single raw exposure.

It's a really nice picture, but I agree with Larry that the red barrel ought to go.