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Tainan Sunrise

One morning my uncle and I drove into the mountains near Tainan city.  It's a known location for photographing sunrises because the fog and trees create a really special look.


This is the normal version, and it was taken probably 10 minutes before the sun actually comes out.  From the platform that I was taking the picture from, there wasn't much I can change for the composition.  I eliminated an empty space below me and also other distracting elements and only focused on the sunrise and the fog.  The rule of thirds, although it's cliche, still works.  I put the line that separates the sky and the mountain on the 1/3 line in the photo.

You probably noticed that this picture has a much wider dynamic range than the "normal" version above.  After taking a few pictures.  I decided to try out HDR.  I used to be very against this technique because I don't like the artificial feeling of the photos made from HDR, but it does help in extremely contrasted situations like this.  I took 3 pictures, +1, 0, and -1, and merged them together using a HDR plugin for Aperture.  For some reason, I still like the normal version better.  What about you?

Another HDR version of the sunrise.  As you can see, this is taken after the sun has come out.  At this moment the contrast is even more extreme, only HDR could've captured the details and the rays of run shining in the photo.

HDR is a useful trick that can bring out more dynamic range than any camera can do.  But also because of that, HDR photos usually look unnatural.  For me, unless I'm going for the HDR look, I try my best the make the photos look natural, and no HDR if possible.
Location: Tainan City, Taiwan

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