No I don't hate it Fred, looks quite good
I have done so many variations already with this data and along the way various versions actually did look quite like what you have done but as you have recognised I do seem to have a certain "look" that I guess I favour, I like to show the outer fainter extremities and usually prefer a slightly softer feel over high contrast..? But then again it varies from image data set to image data set
Take a look at my deep Helix for example
Cheers Big ears
Mike