The original tonemapped image (HDR)

Graphic Pen Filter (Black and White) 

Graphic Pen Filter Colorized via HDR layer

Stamp Filtered Image (Black and White)

Stamp Filter Colorized via HDR layer

Today's images offer a side-by-side (top over bottom?) comparison of an HDR image processed with different filter options in Photoshop Elements. This is probably the closest that I have come to an equal "control," with each of the black and white images containing 5 shades (lightest to darkest) that were layered together. (The HDR was layered into the black and white images at 60% opacity.) One difference between the black and white images is that the graphic pen filter only goes up to 15, so the images were 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15; for the stamp filter, I went 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25, hence the stamp filtered image came out a little bit darker than the graphic pen filtered image. I don't see a whole lot of difference between the original HDR and the colorized graphic pen; I see more difference between the original HDR and the colorized stamp filtered image, which seems somewhat lighter than the original.

What originally caught my interest in this image was the twisted branch about 1/3 of the way into the left side of the image. I think it stands out a little bit more in the black and white versions than it does in the color, but in a busy tree branch image like this one, there is lots of potential for things like twisted branches to get lost in the details.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures!