Crystal Springs Preserve is located in Pasco County, Florida a short distance north of Hillsborough River State Park.  Crystal Springs is a natural spring that provides water to the Hillsborough River near its beginning which is located in the Green Swamp.  The preserve is private and is currently serving primarily as a 'learning resource' for small groups of 15 or more.  Jim and I were able to visit this beautiful location with several members of the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts located in downtown Tampa, Florida.

Rocky stream joins riverA sides stream flows into the Hillsborough River at Crystal Springs Preserve.

This photograph was taken late morning on a sunny day.  HDR (High Dynamic Range) was used to capture and process this photograph.  I set my camera on a tripod to ensure all the images were composed exactly the same, then used bracketing to take four photos. All of these photos were taken at ISO 320, Aperture F/27.  The shutter speed varied 1/15sec, 1/8sec, .5sec, 1.0sec. My post-processing of this set of photos involved several different software packages. Light room 5 (LR5) was used to reduce highlights a little on the rocks, then merge these using Photomatix HDR software. After doing the merge, I then used Nik Color Efex 4 - added the detail extractor filter and then did a few minor adjustments in LR5 after that to ensure contrast and blacks are set to my liking.

The resulting photo shows a more even lighting that looks more like the scene actually looked this Saturday morning.

Linda

VPShoots Photography