I decided to play around with an HDR image from my trip to Rockville, Maryland a while back.  I’ve posted a few photos from this garden but wanted to do something different this time.  As you can see, this image is more of an artistic expression. I’ve muted the colors and added contrast for more of a duotone effect except for the hints of red.

Processing: Five images from -2 to +2 ev loaded into Nik HDR Efex Pro for Tone Mapping and overall Structure.  I emphasized the texture for the edgy look.  Adobe Photoshop was used to add more depth and modify the saturation for a less realistic result.

I was having so much fun playing with the filters in Photoshop that I decided to get a little more daring.  After scrolling through the artistic choices, I came across Brush Strokes and decided on this transformation. A little different. But, it’s OK to be different. Right?

Equipment used: Nikon D700 with 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 set at 20mm, f/11, ISO 400.  Manfrotto 190XPROB with 486RC2 ball head.