Space Ladder

This is the third and final entry of my first attempt at creating High Dynamic Range images (go back two days for info on how it's done), and is probably my favorite of the three. Believe it or not, this image is not heavily Photoshopped. Like the previous two entries, it's made of five identical, bracketed exposures. The HDR and Tone Mapping process brings out details in the image that simply aren't visible in a single "normal" image. In Photoshop, I darkened the edges slightly for a minor vignette effect, and then flipped the image upside down. Click here to see the image right-side up.As to what this is, it's a ladder on a floating dock that's been pulled out of the water. Matter of fact, it's the same ladder as this image that I shot late last summer at my in-laws weekend cabin. This year, the lake level is really down, way down, and the floating dock isn't floating anymore. Hence, the ladder's been pulled up so as not to get stuck in the mud. The stuff in the water is just some grass and weeds and junk that had floated in mixed with a strong reflection of the sky.