Trip to Ořešník

Weather forecast - gust wind, blizzard in the mountains. I was enlighted and got a super bright idea again. As I always did... I took a train to Hejnice and I wanted to climb to the rocky summit of Ořešník. The sun was shining on this side of the Jizera mountains but in bigger heights the wind strenghtened and clouds were all over the surroundings tops. Even before I get to the path that leads to the top of the rock, trees around me started crunching and cracking and I rather ran back down to Hejnice. Because I wanted to finish somehow my trip, I went to Oldřichov v Hájích, where I got on the train and returned home.
I enclose some pictures from this trip, of course not from Ořešník but photographs I took down near Hejnice. I tried HDR again and was pleasantly surprised with it again.

Cross-country skiing in the Jizera Mountains

I took these photographs last month during my trips in the Jizera Mountains. I just can't leave my camera at home in these beautiful winter sunny days, however it's always a little bit risky to carry the camera on skis.
I go usually one of my two favorite tours starting in Harrachov. Both of them lead past Orle - the cottage behind the Polish borders - and then cross the Jizera river and climb around the rocky hill Bukovec to Jizerka. Then I continue to the Vlašský ridge, where I decide, whether I take the shorter way passing the Protržená damm and ending in Josefův Důl or the longer one through Kristiánov, ending in Bedřichov.

Anyway, these pictures are quite special, because I used the HDR (high dynamic range) technic for the first time. I took every photo three times (all in RAW) with different expositions (+-1) and then I used Photomatix 3 software to proceed them into a single image. I also tried the method of making the differently exposed pictures from a RAW photo by Nikon Capture NX software (+-1,5 or +-2,0) in some cases, where moving objects are present (especially tree branches or fast moving clouds in these pictures).
I am satisfied with results even though the images are not as much colorful as you might see e.g. on Filip Molčan's website which I was inspired by (link1 - in czech, link2 - photographs) . I tried to keep the reality in the pictures and I think I mostly succeeded.
Anyway, it is too subjective to use the HDR effect. You can increase colour depth to improve the off-colour sky and to highlight underexposed places in the image and the result can be much closer to reality then correction of the image by standard methods. On the other hand, you can intensify the effect and you can get absolutely different image with 'magic' colours.
This reminds me the neverending disagreement with one of my friends about warm and cold colours. I prefer colder to warmer and he exactly the oposite.