Got a new lens, a Tokina 16-50 f2.8. I've been toying with the notion of gradually upgrading my lens and, apart from my Nikkor 105 macro, this is my first "pro" quality f2.8 lens. I think I'm going to like it. This morning was my first outing with it.
Pulled out all of the stops to make this image - fairly dark still, tonal range greater than the camera can handle, and shooting right into the rising sun. Dealt with this situation via HDR - 3 exposures (-2, 0, +2) and processed using Photomatix's "Natural" preset. That by itself wasn't enough to handle the really bright area around the rising sun. Dealt with that by using a Reverse Grad ND filter in conjunction with the 3-shot HDR (i.e., each of the 3 shots was made using this filter). If you're not familiar with a Reverse Grad ND, it had the darkest area in the middle of the filter as opposed to at the top for a regular Grad. In this shot that dark middle was lined up with that sloping ridge line in front of the sun. Using a regular Grad would NOT have helped as it darkens from the top and the problem isn't at the top, it's in the middle.