I have mixed feelings about HDR. Even when it works well, like this photo, it looks "different". Not necessarily bad, just not what you would really expect.

Yeah know what you mean, it's kind of like when I first got a HDTV, at first it looked weird but now its normal. It looks like it almost has a hyper real colors effect to it, kind of like if someone went into Photoshop and cranked the sliders a bit to make the color pop more

The other thing is the breadth of what is visible. You can clearly see the tree bark in the shadows while also seeing a good view of both the Sun and its reflection on the water. Your mind tells you that is not possible and is therefore abnormal.

I wonder if it's because for those like us that cut our teeth shooting film are used to that certain amount of loss you get due to the process and generational loss. So with digital and HDR we expect those problems, but when they are not there it seems unreal

I am being a bit more general in my observation. If you are in a setting with strong light (sunlight) and deep shadows (forest), you cannot see everything. Your eyes adjust to the light, and you generally lose the details in the shadows. You also cannot look directly at very bright objects like the Sun and white objects and see details.

From that viewpoint, your brain looks at an HDR image and knows that you cannot see that range of light levels and says that it is not "right".

When I do HDR, I try to balance out the desire for maximum coverage with some realism for that reason. It still looks a bit "off", but as in this picture, it is not so far off that it becomes totally unrealistic.

The arboretum is small but very nice. There are a couple of good spots along Reed Creek to stop and enjoy some peaceful contemplation.

Thank you. I really like how it turned out.