To be honest, I don't really like this one. Looks like it was a bit oversharpened. The sky is great and the tone as well but I liked the one before the yesterday's one much more. Otherwise the perspective and the subject looks cool.

the texture is great, but i find the texture difference between the steps and the sky to be a bit jarring. yesterday's was less jarring, and i really dug the colors.

all that being said, your work with the 11-18 was great and really helped me think about how i use my 10-20.

E y e V i s i o n/niv: ok, I've put up a less sharp version. The current one was just resized, with no additional output sharpening.

I don't mean to be the detractor here, but I love this photo. It's very dream-like, in fact it reminds a little of a dream I had the other day (I'll spare you the sorted details). The textures are great, and the angle is fantastic. Thank you for this inspirational piece!

that makes a huge difference! like sonny said, the toning really makes the image dream-like

Wooww!!! Great texture.

Ancient steps to... I feel small as I approach the ascension... intimidating and inviting. Beautiful.

I'm not sure I love the tone, but still a great shot none-the-less.

I'm not sure about the difference in contrast between the sky and the steps (I suppose it's induced by the HDR processing), it makes the image seem too much unnatural. I definitely prefer the previous one and even more the one title "in defence of sea", where hdr meets the "genuine" in a softer way. JustMy2cents.

Definitely a more illustrative feel to this HDR. HDR always brings major details to life, as is the case in the rocks' texture. It feels like the left part of the image suffered from noise/artifacts, so black and white was a good tactic. I love the sense of scale of this pic.

I think I liked yesterdays much better than this. I think this is my least favourite of the set to be honest :/ The day before yesterdays was really nice too, the "In Defence Of The Sea" image.

With this image I find where the rock meets the sky very strange. Especially the top part. Dramatic image though. :) This isn't a HDR is it?

well, i like this one. perhaps because it reminds me of my home town - though in Britain you have more elaborate seawalls. and wonderful skies!

Hi Dave, As a series, I did enjoy them all. My favorite was "In Defence of the Sea" and this one would be my least favorite. Each image offers their own individual uniqueness. Overall, would you recommend this Tamron lens if someone was looking for a super wide angle lens?
Chris

Great series, I've really enjoyed them. It actually made me dust of my own tamron lense. It's been an eyeopener, especially your thoughts about combining ordinary images with hdr processed. I like that idea.

As for this image, i like it very much. It really snaps in your face nature is without mercy and will wear down the most solid structure, if permitted to rub and nub on it. I'd love to see a color version of this one, the deep rusty tone of the railing cut off in the bottom left corner would be awesome I think. Your sky is brilliant, great details.

The overall impression of your series; i'm really impressed. Mostly due to the fact that you bring out tones and details in your images that are brilliant. The level of details you've achived from hdr in the foreground is minutely incorporated, so the viewer isn't left with "ah just another hdr blowen in my face" - it is delicately added and combined with the details of the original image. I like that.

I really like this, especially the nice low angle - best of the set. I think the jarring contrast change niv mentions between the rock and cloud is more to do with the contrasty nature of the material than the processing. If you look at the steps themselves, the light is pretty flat, in keeping with the sky. The only thing I'm not so sure of is the crop; there's a bit too much 'nothing' on the right (beyond the edge of the steps) for my taste, making it seem a little unbalanced.

Look at your blog regularly and really like your pictures. Just a quick question, when you do B&W HDR do you convert to B&W before or after processing in photomatrix ?

I'm with sambrill on this one... prefer "In Defence Of The Sea" . Although the shot is well processed the material of the steps seems to make it look over-noisy, especially in conjunction with the smooth sky

Hi David. Great image. Is the HDR only in the foreground and the rest is not converted to HDR? (the sky). Also, do you apply sharpening to all of your photos? If so, what technique do you use?

I can't comment on your techno wizardry Dave ... But I'm really interested in the ''staircase to heaven'' ;-). I find the sea a bit of a distraction though some would say it gives context. I'd change the shooting angle to focus on the concrete and sky. They are texturally at opposites but something that is always around us. Without the sea there would also be a sense of enigma. richard

I love both this one and the previous for different reasons. They are quite different. I think the black and white accentuates the textures here and if it were to be in color the sky, being so dramatic, might be too much competition for the main subject.

Escalarea al cielo.... hasta el cielo se abre para dar la bienvenida.
Curiosa foto.
saludos

Nice perspective on this one! the texture of the stairs and the sky are really great

Me gusta muchisimo tu trabajo, es espectacular...te felicito, algun dia me gustaria poder tener tu arte, un fuerte abrazo y no lo dudes, seguiremos en contacto.

I like the grittyness and texture of the steps in this one, I almost want to crane my neck and look around the edge of them down the beach. I have to say though that "In Defence Of The Sea" has been my favourite of the set with this lens.

Nice but after having looked at it a few times I agree that yesterday's picture is stronger. This one is gritty and raw but it is too monochrome to my taste. I didn't leave a comment yesterday but that red bucket was classical chromasia and I like it a lot.

Thanks all.

Chris: yes, I would recommend it. The maximum aperture isn't great, but on the whole it does seem to produce pretty good results.

Kristian: thanks. I'm trying to get away from the "in your face" style of HDR image so it's good to see that this one was well received.

Al: yes, it's just the foreground that's HDR. As for sharpening: I resize the image then use Smart Sharpen - usually with a very small radius (either .1 or .2) and an amount of around 80-120.

Once again, superb!!