HDR in the mountains

It's been a while since we've had any activity on the blog. I know there's been lots of shooting out there so it would be great to see some of it (Paul...what about some of your PAWs, Neil what about some street candid's with your new toy :-) ).

Here's a shot from a recent workshop in the Berg that I'd like some feedback on if possible. It's a 5 image HDR (there were more shots but I've only used 5. One of the more complex HDRs that I've done requiring basic as well luminosity masks to get the tonal range that I wanted (a pic of the layer palette before flattening and doing final touches - I had to flatten as the computer wouldn't allow more steps). The problem is that I'm worried that it looks too much like an HDR.

then there's the flare. Yay or nay? Part of me loves it, part of me hates it. Hard to decide really.

so any comments or suggestions would be great as I'm finding myself on the fence on this one.

Cheers
E

Drakensberg weather

Admittedly I'm cheating a little here and the shot wasn't taken in the last month. I could say it was discovered in the last week though as i completely forgot about taking it. This is from a receding storm as seen from Witsieshoek while on a photography workshop in the Drakensberg last October.

tech: Iso 200, f5.6 for 6 and 1/2 minutes.

Drakensberg panoramic

Another photoshop technique I have been playing with a lot lately is panoramic stitching. To this end I have actually invested in an old Shift Lens. This shot, however, was captured using a 28-105mm zoom lens set at 28mm. It consists of three horizontal shots with quite a large overlap between each shot.

My concern is whether the image is too 'dark'. Any comments?

E