Ok gang. I have been playing around more with HDR and here is an image I did using Photomatix Pro. I have included the 3 original images as well as my attempt. What are your thoughts. I think it looks a little over cooked to me.
Thanks;
Michael
I agree. I love HDR but the color is a bit strong here. Quite easy to cut the color intensity back a bit.
Whuff
Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa
I agree the color is oversaturated and you have telltale halos in the sky that detract terribly. You can try replacing the sky with one of the original shot's sky and pull back on saturation.
Walt
big-guy
Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada
That halo above the mountains and around the tree are classic signs of over cooking. The shot itself is fairly standard so I think a non adjusted preset would have done just fine. As in all forms of PP, a delicate touch will do far better then heavy hands. Unless garish is your goal of course.
I think big-guy's mention of the original being "standard" is key: that shot looks great as-is. There are only a couple of tiny areas where more detail could be brought out to improve, and of course if you want more color saturation, that's an easy edit too.
The result you posted here is quite a bit more than "overcooked," IMO
Thanks all for your suggestions. Back to the drawing board.
Your 1st photo looks good to me. Did you really need HDR?
I use hdr for two reasons, to pick up lost detail and to spice up the photo. in this case the detail was ok, I would have passed on spicing it up.
The idea is to make a picture that looks natural. **Not surreal.
#4 appears overly harsh. Could the intensity and/or contrast be dialed back a bit.
bull drink water wrote:
I use hdr for two reasons, to pick up lost detail and to spice up the photo. in this case the detail was ok, I would have passed on spicing it up.
This might be a situation where when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. HDR is a tool for solving specific problems. Unless trying to solve a dynamic range issue (or creating an over saturated piece of art), HDR seldom helps with the things like lost details. To get the details, take the first photo and use a clarity and/or vibrance tool. Also, I would bring out the saturation and darken the sky to make it a pleasant bluer color. Do those things and you will have a better image than most HDR attempts will provide.
The best images that really need HDR are those where there is some portion of the image is outside of the camera's dynamic range (either a part is blown out or nothing in shadows). The typical example is a room with a bright window, or a waterfall in a dark ravine.
Jerry
Jakebrake wrote:
Ok gang. I have been playing around more with HDR and here is an image I did using Photomatix Pro. I have included the 3 original images as well as my attempt. What are your thoughts. I think it looks a little over cooked to me.
Thanks;
Michael
Personally I would stick with the original and tweak it a iittle in LR. I dislike the halo that HDR can produce.
bull drink water wrote:
I use hdr for two reasons, to pick up lost detail and to spice up the photo. in this case the detail was ok, I would have passed on spicing it up.
Thanks for the tip. I'm going out today to do some bracketed shooting, and will make another attempt without the 'spicing up'.
Erdos2 wrote:
This might be a situation where when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. HDR is a tool for solving specific problems. Unless trying to solve a dynamic range issue (or creating an over saturated piece of art), HDR seldom helps with the things like lost details. To get the details, take the first photo and use a clarity and/or vibrance tool. Also, I would bring out the saturation and darken the sky to make it a pleasant bluer color. Do those things and you will have a better image than most HDR attempts will provide.
The best images that really need HDR are those where there is some portion of the image is outside of the camera's dynamic range (either a part is blown out or nothing in shadows). The typical example is a room with a bright window, or a waterfall in a dark ravine.
Jerry
This might be a situation where when you have a ha... (
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Thanks Jerry for the advice. Being a rank amateur at photography and post processing in general, but I'm having so much fun with it since my retirement, and thanks to all for the comments. That's how I learn.
Michael
fantom wrote:
Personally I would stick with the original and tweak it a iittle in LR. I dislike the halo that HDR can produce.
Thanks fantom. I too somewhat dislike the halo, and will see if in my next attempt I can eliminate it.
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