Goodnight Dante's View, Death Valley, California, April 2008
This image was created using Photomatrix HDR software. It is a combination of four images. Sometimes I feel as if HDR images seem unreal. I have tried to keep this looking like what I saw.
Be careful with HDR. It's very seductive, but you have used it show your vision. Others deploy it as a gimmick to enhance an otherwise "ordinary" scene.
This image raises a number of ethical considerations. I salute you for telling us that this is a composite of four separate images, which allows the viewer to look at it as example of electronic art. As electronic art, it triggers our imagination and suggests that we are viewing the departure of a fiery sun that leaves behind a scorched earth. Another perfect metaphor for Death Valley. There are other photographers, however, who would not identify this as a composite image, expecting the viewer to see it as a single photograph. And that, in my view at least, would be both unethical and misleading. Yes, such images are not "real" in terms of photography as we understand. Yet in their very unreality, they can express significant ideas, and that is what you have done here. At the same time, your caption offers a gesture of respect for your viewers. This is the way it should always be done.