Early pioneers staking claim on the Kansas prairie routinely planted the fast-growing cottonwood to provide the shade, warmth and cooking fuel they were accustomed to back east. Because of the part played by the tree in the early days of settlement, the cottonwood has been called the pioneer tree of Kansas. The cottonwood tree had great value to the early pioneers, enough value to have several towns named for them in ten states, with two each in Texas and Utah. It can also be made useful in protecting stream banks from erosion, as it will thrive on ground too wet for trees that will produce more valuable lumber and which is too wet to cultivate. It is readily reproduced by sprouts from cut stumps and roots, and can be propagated by cuttings set in the ground where the trees are to stand. So here is a sunburst taken near Ladora Lake on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR. This is an HDR image from three bracketed exposures of one stop each.
4 Comments
Anita Jesse
I love this tribute to the cottonwood tree. Beautifully
done, Monte. Yours is an outstanding example of what HDR can do. Thank goodness there are some (like you!) who counteract the stuff that gives HDR a bad name for some of us.
I am curious. Did you achieve this with Photoshop, or a plug-in?.
Monte Stevens
I am using Nik HDR effects pro. I like the interface and their presets. It is a plugin with Lightroom. I am almost exclusive with LR and two plugins, the HDR effects and Topaz Adjust. I do not have Photoshop but have Elements 6, which I hardly use.
I do have some images that are manipulated a bit too far with using both plugins. I would like to keep my images looking as natural as I can.
Ken Bello
We have cottonwoods in a wooded area behind our house, but the leaves are all gone now and never looked as good as these. Nice post processing job, Monte. I know what shooting into the sun can do to an image.
Monte Stevens
This is my first attempt at an HDR image with a sunburst. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks!