brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

I am looking for a medium between the cooked look and over-exaggerated saturation. The first time I saw this technique in one of my PhotoShop User Mags and it put me off to. But I have been seeing more and more. There is a great photo essay on Stumble of a New Orleans Six Flags Amusement Park in disrepair which tweaked my interest.

It could be that I used the hdr filter on a 7mp jpg where PhotoShop is attempting to add color information to the file. I have done a couple more that I shot in RAW, converted to DNG and ran the DNG file through the hdr adjustment. I think a DNG file has tons more color information in it to tap into without creating a lot of noise. Another thing I did to my second photo (below) is that I ran a copy through the hdr adjustment and pasted the copy above the original lowered the layer opacity to about 67% then added a .6 Gaussian blure to the hdr layer.

Bridgetown Mill House Langhorne, PA

photogrl57 Loc: Tennessee

You did great for a first attempt ... HDR isn't something that is instinctual ... Keep at it hun you are doing great.

brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

Thanks photoGirl57. Do you have any suggestions or Ideas?

ward5311 Loc: Georgia

My guess is as you learn you will realize that Less is More. Anyone can blow out a couple sliders and call it HDR. You will find what you like best. Remember to just please yourself.. :thumbup:

BTW....for everyone who posted IT IS PHOTOMATIX...There is no R. IMO it's the best for HDR merging and tone-mapping. I then go to PS to correct distortions, flaws, etc.

photogrl57 Loc: Tennessee

I'm sure everyone will disagree with me .. but I personally don't care for the really heavy HDR .. it's almost cartoonish. I like the ones that are processed to just look realistic ... but on steroids LOL ... I find that photoshop does a fine job for what I need ... plus there are HDR actions you can get for photoshop .. they range from light HDR to heavy HDR .. and no ghosting or halo effect.

I had photomatix and removed it after several months of using it ... I have not tried the others that were mentioned.

ward5311 Loc: Georgia

I think more will agree with you....I don't like the "blown out" look. Some subjects lend themself to HDR more than others...

photogrl57 Loc: Tennessee

Absolutely

modeladay Loc: West Virginia

I don't care for the surreal look ether, here's one I did this weekend.

photogrl57 Loc: Tennessee

That one is very nice ... enhances the colors wonderfully

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

Now if that is HDR then that is very good. Some times a heavy hand, on certain images looks good with HDR. Generally though, it seems to be overdone by most people who don't seem to understand what it should be used for exactly. Just like some who are too heavy handed with saturation and oversharpening.

When someone has to ask if anything was done to the image, that usually means it was done well. When it is obvious something has been done in HDR that usually means it has been overdone.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

thank you. I appreciate that. It's good to admit when one is a jerk - i suggest you try it as well. My only mistake here was mis-reading to whom I was posting (modelady instead of you). And you made the same mistake I did - we both mis-read the post. So that seemed to be all you needed to hit me with a trite and trivial and irrelevant comment - to which i responded thinking I was still speaking to the same original person....my mistake jerk that I am...and then you popped off again (Also mis-reading the entire episode) only now your twice as pissed and the whole thing was just an editorial error...........so it's kinda funny when you think about it and kinda sad that one little U turns both of us into BIG FAT JERKS!

Except, you are the big fat angry one of the two of Us!