Kinkaku-ji
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by justine:
Peaceful looking, colorful, clear shot. Nice one.

Kinkaku-ji
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by Paul:
Very well balanced and effective image.

Kinkaku-ji
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by BJokerud:
This looks like a dream. Well done!

Imperial Palace Garden
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by fldave:
I really like the composition and colors, but fear the halos may hurt this image... too much highlight/shadow perhaps?

Nison-in Temple, Kyoto
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by thomaspeople:
Very well done and spooky. The movement in the trees really sells it.

Nison-in Temple, Kyoto
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by vawendy:
fascinating place. This just seems a tad flat. Perhaps increasing the contrast, if you want the washed out colors, or increasing the saturation a tad to bring out the greens and reds a little more. One other thought is focusing in more on the temple. The trees are given equal weight to the formations. If you would have zoomed in more on the lower left, it could be more interesting.

Nison-in Temple, Kyoto
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by deers:
It is hard to tell but it looks like there is a lot of motion in the trees, and is not very clear.

Nison-in Temple, Kyoto
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by ahjenny:
Very nice capture.

Helluva Bed and Breakfast View
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by hopelessoptimist:
bspurgeon, thanks for the great feedback. I have to confess that I'm still prone to shooting rapidly and without too much planning. This photo was one of numerous in a span of 5 minutes where I was trying to do panoramas and different angles, etc. The downside is that I could have framed the photo better and spent the time to adjust the camera for a good exposure in the ways you have commented. With the HDR, this is still very much an experiment. I had problems with the mountain having very strange, blown out looking highlights with the tone mapping and after your comment I can see that the sunny side is a bit overdone. I just loved the colors so much and wanted it to burst. Thanks again for the detailed comments. You can find that B&B here: North Country B&B, Trapper Creek, AK

Helluva Bed and Breakfast View
by hopelessoptimist

Comment by bspurgeon:
Beautiful scene, certainly deserving of a higher score. I think the blown out sky, and the reflection, near the setting sun could be improved, particularly since you have 5 exposures to work with. Also, it appears you shot wide open for all five exposures, correct? I don't see any misalignment, so I'm guessing you used a tripod or something stationary, although I am surprised by the aperture of f/3.5 F/11-16 would have allowed for much greater depth of field, and possibly a cleaner sky and reflection. The DOF is also apparent with the dock, as the focal point appears to be about two-thirds down the dock, and at f/3.5 much of the dock is soft, as well as the distant trees.

With that said (I do like the photograph, that's why I'm commenting, etc!)you really captured the peace and serenity of the scene, I hope you get to go back! By the way, would you mind posting a link to the Bed and Breakfast, looks great!