jam Loc: Beaufort, NC

The following is a sunset I did in Nik HDR Flex Pro 2. Please comment and advise.

At 0

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Used Nik HDR. Combined 3 images

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hikercheryl Loc: Madison, NC

Jody,
I don't download the photos to examine closely, but viewing the photograph in a small format, it looks very nice. I am a NC resident so I am always attracted to images from my state. I like the color range. I use Nik too. I wonder if the photo would be improved by lightening the high clouds a bit. I might like to raise the light level in the far left trees too. I like the dreamy feel of the scene!!
Cheryl in the NC Piedmont

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

I agree, I think the clouds are cooked a bit too much. Black clouds like this are usually a sign of over the top HDR. Other than the clouds, I love the colors.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I like the clouds, very dramatic. Good job.

Chinaman Loc: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Lovely colours, scene and technique. I feel it can be improved with a straighter pier/horizon and removing halos over the foliage on the left. Another nice version is cropping the sky just underneath the bright red spot on the upper right.

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

I agree, it looks great!


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Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

jam,

You have the potential of a very nice photograph, my personal opinion is the overall image is way overcooked. My preference is the more natural look, the one your eyes saw when viewing the scene on site.

With the above in mind, look again at your 0Ev exposure, the sky could use a touch more contrast, Local Tone Mapping, the brightness reduced a touch, and a slight amount of sharpness added for effect. The grassy foreground is terrific for composition, the brightness could have been raised a tough, a tiny bit of contrast added, and Tone Mapped all of the grass and bay.

All of the above could have been done in your HDR processing with 3 exposures, and blending (merging) the exposures into one final image. The secret is in knowing when to stop the HDR process. Another secret is remembering the scene when you were there observing the sky and pier, remembering what attracted your attention to that moment, and reproducing with HDR processing.

On the other hand, if you really like to surreal look and feel HDR can produce, ignore my comments and move on.

Michael G

jam Loc: Beaufort, NC

This is one that I did not as dramatic. Think I like first one best. Thank you for all of the comments. This is a great site

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Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

jam,

You are welcome.

The choice in how the picture is finalized is entirely up to the artist. I am glad you tried some new adjustments, in my opinion this last one is better.

While you are working on more images in HDR I hope you will try alternate adjustments to see how thy might look.

Michael G