Glass Ball

@Evie: Thank you.

@Shar: Yes, I used Photomatix (hdr) to combine three different exposures. The effect isn't what I'd call "transformative" but I do think it adds something to the image over the flat shot tweaked to the best exposure. Of course, the eye can see a far greater range of light and dark than our camera can photograph. I often find that as a result, the image I "see" when I snap the shutter is not the image I get when I view the capture. Hdr doesn't have to be overly dramatic. I use hdr processing to recreate the image as I "saw" it, which is of course part subjective and part imaginative, but usually much closer to my intentions than a straight shot.

@Matt Trujillo Photography: Thank you. Hdr processing can range from subtle to dramatic. Towards the more subtle end you can probably produce similar effects manually, it's just a lot easier and faster to use Photomatix. However, the "radiance" files it produces are huge --sometimes on the order of 60 MB.

@MaryB: Thank you. I keep forgetting to respond with the icon.