HDR----- I think I may have one that finally works.......

So, I've been playing around with the HDR function in CS5 for just a little bit now and got a few that worked O.K. but not really true HDR's if ya know what I mean..... LOL!

So, yesterday I was in playing with some photo's that I specifically took with HDR in mind and they just weren't working out for one reason or another, anyhow, I got to this group and everything seem to click and I really like the way that it turned out, but again, I'm wanting to learn and I can always learn from all of the talented folks here on PT, so let me have your feedback critique of this one and let the feather fly where they may.

Thanks, (I think....haha!)

Also, I'm gonna be out of pocket for awhile, so, it will probably be this evening before I can comment back on any responses.

Thanks again!

It works for some elements in the photo more than others. IMHO, HDR should be subtle. People who know what HDR is should recognize it, and people who don't should just go, "Wow! I wonder how they took such a cool looking picture!" In this case, even people who've never edited a photo would be able to see what is extremely processed, or even think that it was a computer rendering or detailed painting rather than an actual photo.

The sky -- particularly the highlights in the sky around objects -- is where it works the least for me. It does create a nice effect with the woodgrain on the tower though.

Just my $.02

I'd like it better w/out the HDR, but maybe it's just personal preference. Seems like HDR needs to be done so it's not noticeable, or if you're going for some sort of special effect... then go for it bigtime so it's not so much a photo as an artistic interpretation I guess! LOL I don't know, I don't get why people like HDR, it doesn't do it for me, but I seem to be in the minority on here w/that opinion. I liked your other photos esp. some of your recent work better.

I am not a big fan of HDR when it looks unnatural. That said, this would make a cool poster - sort of "op art"/Andy Warhol sort of decor.

rmeyer7 wrote: It works for some elements in the photo more than others. IMHO, HDR should be subtle. People who know what HDR is should recognize it, and people who don't should just go, "Wow! I wonder how they took such a cool looking picture!" In this case, even people who've never edited a photo would be able to see what is extremely processed, or even think that it was a computer rendering or detailed painting rather than an actual photo.

The sky -- particularly the highlights in the sky around objects -- is where it works the least for me. It does create a nice effect with the woodgrain on the tower though.

Just my $.02

Roy, thanks for your input and candor. I appreciate that. I definitely know what you mean about the sky and I know how and why it turned out that way and is also the part of the image that I like the least. The reason is that I do not have built in bracketing abilities, so, I have to manually change the shutter and verify that it is 1 stop higher or lower and then shoot. In this case that was 7 frames worth and the clouds actually moved quite a bit from 1st shot to last, so the clouds were not able to be aligned as everything else was and thus changed how it wound up being processed in comparison to everything else.

However I do agree that it winds up looking over processed, especially when compared to the rest of the image.

But on the bright side, I know and understand what caused the problem in that area and the rest of the image turned out much better than any of my previous attempts, so, I am learning and making progress or at least it would seem so.....

Thanks again for your input / critique. It is greatly appreciated!

icepics wrote: I'd like it better w/out the HDR, but maybe it's just personal preference. Seems like HDR needs to be done so it's not noticeable, or if you're going for some sort of special effect... then go for it bigtime so it's not so much a photo as an artistic interpretation I guess! LOL I don't know, I don't get why people like HDR, it doesn't do it for me, but I seem to be in the minority on here w/that opinion. I liked your other photos esp. some of your recent work better.

Thanks Sharon, I appreciate your opinion. For me HDR is an artistic expression that has a very wide area of expression. I do not care for most HDR's that are over-processed, but I have run across the odd bird out every now and again, that although way over-processed still works for that image. But generally speaking I am a fan of the more minimally processed HDR's, which I think that this one is at the upper limit of that window, if you remove the sky processing. Again, just my opinion and I am still experimenting and trying to get it all figured out. O.K. maybe not ALL figured out....LOL... but a much larger chunk of it than I currently know. haha.

Thanks again Sharon for your critique. All of it helps me to rethink, re-processes and reconsider my options and motivations and hopefully help turn me into a better photographer.

Baydream wrote: I am not a big fan of HDR when it looks unnatural. That said, this would make a cool poster - sort of "op art"/Andy Warhol sort of decor.

Thanks John. I could live with that and that kind of rep...... and although this may not have been the exact results that I had hoped for, I can still live with it and see it printed large say something like 32X40 and hanging on a wall or 2 or 3, thousand, maybe..... haha!

Thanks again John!

The windmill looks cool, everything else looks garbaged up. Copy the unedited version paste into a layer, and paint in just the windmill and edit everything else separate.

i like the way the windmill came out but i don't like the rest of the picture in an hdr effect i would try it without hdr

Scotty wrote: The windmill looks cool, everything else looks garbaged up. Copy the unedited version paste into a layer, and paint in just the windmill and edit everything else separate.

Thanks for the tip Scotty. I'll have to try that as I need to get much more comfortable working with layers and masks as well.

DonD2 wrote:

Scotty wrote: The windmill looks cool, everything else looks garbaged up. Copy the unedited version paste into a layer, and paint in just the windmill and edit everything else separate.

Thanks for the tip Scotty. I'll have to try that as I need to get much more comfortable working with layers and masks as well.

You'll be pleasantly surprised how quickly you get comfortable with it And Scotty's suggestion is (as usual) a great idea.

butterflygirl921 wrote: i like the way the windmill came out but i don't like the rest of the picture in an hdr effect i would try it without hdr

Thanks Amanda. I'm gonna try a few things today and see what I come up with.

rmeyer7 wrote:

DonD2 wrote:

Scotty wrote: The windmill looks cool, everything else looks garbaged up. Copy the unedited version paste into a layer, and paint in just the windmill and edit everything else separate.

Thanks for the tip Scotty. I'll have to try that as I need to get much more comfortable working with layers and masks as well.

You'll be pleasantly surprised how quickly you get comfortable with it And Scotty's suggestion is (as usual) a great idea.

Yeah, Scotty's suggestions usually are spot on aren't they........ just pisses you off every once in awhile doesn't it?....... LOL .... And as I said to Amanda, I plan on doing some playin' around with it today and we'll see what I come up with. I'll post some of the results later ( if I can come up with anything worth posting that is..... LOL.... )

I can appreciate what everyone else is saying. But from a pure "I finally did an HDR shot that looks HDR", it looks cool. The elements of the photo that were pointed out in need of editing will come in time. I think for what you were trying to do (from my understanding of what you were trying to accomplish anyways) you nailed it.
Nice job!