Storm Brewing
by KarenNfld

Comment by JacksonGariety:
Nice big open skies... I like that, but HDR is left out of his. I'd love to see this with a better HDR effect. Anyway, good luck!

9 Dots
by KarenNfld

Comment by Lydia:
Oooohhh... I like this! (not voting)

9 Dots
by KarenNfld

Comment by andreyua:
I can go on and on about the great lighting and proportionality of this picture. Solid 10!

9 Dots
by KarenNfld

Comment by StephenG:
Very nice high-key presentation

9 Dots
by KarenNfld

Comment by my-planet:
Nice contrast.

9 Dots
by KarenNfld

Comment by Leo:
Like the high key(?)/high contrast processing. Like the patterns of the lines also.

Storm Brewing
by KarenNfld

Comment by digitald00d:
very crisp. nice!

Storm Brewing
by KarenNfld

Comment by MsAmbrosia:
I wish the sky was more interesting because it makes up most of the shot.

Storm Brewing
by KarenNfld

Comment by K3Master:
I shall be rating this challenge by the following criteria:

1 - Not HDR in my opinion

3 - HDR is way over-done, in my opinion

5 - A reasonable use of HDR, but not a very engaging photo, in my opinion

7 - A reasonable use of HDR, and an engaging photo, in my opinion

10 - A fantastic use of HDR, and an out of this world photo, in my opinion

Your photo receives:

5

Storm Brewing
by KarenNfld

Comment by Artifacts:
If you have Lightroom you can remove the dark smokiness surrounding the clouds. Select the airbrush tool and pick "exposure" and "-" for the air brush settings adjusted to about +.5 f/stops or so for starters and airbrush the smokiness away from the cloud edges. It is a bit tricky to avoid unevenness but pretty easy with a practiced hand and produces a very natural looking result.

You can achieve the same result with an Exposure Layer in PS CS4 but, of course as is true with everything in PS, it is a lot harder. :)