As I have said before, the stream-side forest at Emmons Preserve in Kennebunkport is one of the most challenging photographic subjects I have ever encountered. The range of light and shadow, the moving water with its own bright highlights, and the blue sky behind the trees…it is simply too much for conventional photographic methods.

My new Sony NEX 5T has a very sophisticated HDR program built in. It will take three exposures and combine them, but you can also set the difference between exposures and control the center point of the three using EV compensation. It is also very fast…so fast you do not need a tripod. This is an in-camera HDR with 6 EV between exposures, centered on minus 1 EV. I then gave it additional HDR processing in Snapseed on my tablet. And for all that it looks like nothing special. It looks like the scene looked to the naked eye. But, of course, that was my goal. I wanted to faithfully capture the ambiance of the stream-side forest, with its full range of light and shadow, realistic highlights and accurate color in the water, and blue sky behind the trees. I like it.

Camera and processing as above. ZEISS Touit 12mm f2.8.