It all started with “Why we love Durban: The Bluff -1“.
Post “2” followed and now here is “3” below.
I woke up shortly before 04:00, made coffee and then Roscoe and I left to catch the sunrise at Brighton / Anstey’s Beach, Durban South Africa.
I took 291 bracketed photos on various settings, as I am still trying to get the hang of HDR photography into the sun or at night.
Photo 1 is shown below. It is the first one I processed. I think the others to follow will turn out a little better here and there (I’m holding thumbs).
Photomatix is busy chomping on my memory; processing all the other photos. I am trying to batch-process bracketed photos on at least three different settings to see what I get (normally I would process one batch at a time).
This time I found likable settings using one batch of photos for say all the “into the sun / at beach” photos, and then applied the same settings to all the other similar batches.
Version 2: same shot but different batch / settings is shown below.
Which one do you like?
Andrew Harvard Photography 
Definitely the first on thank you!
Good to see you still enjoying the photos!
I love the first the best as the colors are more vivid.
The 2nd one has a smoky misty feel I enjoy
Hi Andy – I like the unusual L-shape of the jetty intersecting the beach – it’s almost a suspended shape in the second pic. For me, the top photo with its intense deep blues and shadows and the turbulent, foamy water is more atmospheric. Aside from (my) arty views – this must be a beautiful place to visit.
Lovely, especially in the early morning
I think I like the vibrancy and richer colors of the clouds in the first one.
I had another look and am laying my money on no 2 Kat
I actually prefer the water, sky and the lights in the second!
Thanks for looking and commenting
I like the first one because you can still see the action of the waves.
This is the 1st time I got the silky smooth effect (by mistake actually) – so when the rough sea turned out to be a calm lake I was ecstatic
I’m partial to the darker tones of #1.
Thank you Stacie
The second is very dreamy, but I think I prefer the first one (like many others here) because of the amazing colours and contrasts
Thank you!
Just had to add my ‘mustard after the meal’ comment: I like both, but love the eery, dreamy calm of the ocean in the second, so unlike the bluff that i know. Almost as if the waves are taking some ‘time off’ after hours, when the bathers have gone home.
The dreamy is so what I like