First HDR attempt

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joescrivens

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I went to DUblin this weekend and attempted my first HDR with my new 7D,

C&C to help me work out what I did right and what I did wrong please :)

original

4133346186_c83b01ef60_o.jpg


HDR

4133343240_5bf49e0675_o.jpg
 
joescrivens said:
what I did wrong please :)
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You used HDR ;)

More seriously though, at least you haven't gone over the top with it and your end result at least is believable. I'm not a fan of most HDR but what you've done is ok. The sky has certainly helped but I'm not sure there's a lot wrong with the the original image (other than the sky) that a little bit of levels wouldn't have helped with anyway.

Depends what you're trying to achieve with the HDR. The original image is probably much closer to what you actually saw with your eyes but the modified image has more impact on screen. All comes down to what you want.

Anyway, others who are much better with HDR than me will be along soon... :)
 
Though I'm a fan of subtle HDR, which this is, I tend to agree with cirks that the effect you have created could have been achieved with adjustments to the raw file and/or adjustment layers.

Apart from the 2 tone sky, as Chaz pointed out, this is a very nice photograph.
 
I took 3 photos using the exposure difference of 2 then used photomatix to import the raw files.

As to the impact vs what it really looks like, I think there was a combination of both here. When I saw the arch I thought it was very impressive but a still photo of it didn't really do it justice, seems kind of boring to me. The HDR version I find myself wanting to look at more and it gives me the same feeling of wow that's impressive, so I guess my HDR version although may not look as real, it actually provides me with the feeling I had when I was stood in front of it.
 
Englishman said:
Though I'm a fan of subtle HDR, which this is, I tend to agree with cirks that the effect you have created could have been achieved with adjustments to the raw file and/or adjustment layers.

Apart from the 2 tone sky, as Chaz pointed out, this is a very nice photograph.
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ok, so perhaps I need to work on the sky to make it look less two toned?
 
Here are two more, the skies in these ones are very plain, do they ruin the photo in your opinions?

2
4132667167_84d0654c91_o.jpg


3.
4132667061_54f82fea55_o.jpg
 
I have to agree with above when they say you didn't need HDR to make it look better, in ways it looks worse. There is a light band across the bottom of the gates, I've only just started using HDR so don't know how you would stop that from happening.

I had a very quick play on photoshop, no HDR used, and came up with this one.

4133346186_c83b01ef60_o.jpg
 
ki_user said:
I have to agree with above when they say you didn't need HDR to make it look better, in ways it looks worse. There is a light band across the bottom of the gates, I've only just started using HDR so don't know how you would stop that from happening.

I had a very quick play on photoshop, no HDR used, and came up with this one.

4133346186_c83b01ef60_o.jpg
Click to expand...

The arch looks good but the sky looks horrible in this one
 
horrocks said:
I think Joe's HDR image is superb. It has a real sense of drama that isn't there in the original, and a lovely 'glow' from the stonework.
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Cheers, thats a good way of putting it. The original when I look at it, doesn't give me the feeling I had when I stood in front of it, but the HDR one does :)
 
Hi Joe

I don't think any amount of HDR or any other process is going to do much for that white sky unfortunately. I think you have to have at least something going in the original shot for it to work well. Also the HDR version looks a little soft, did you use a tripod? One of the biggest problems with HDR & Photomatix in general is that is robs the scene of contrast, so you really need to add this back in post processing otherwise this can also add to the softness of the final result. Another trick that some people try with Photomatix is to process 2 different tonemaps, 1 for the sky & 1 for the subject and then blend then in Photoshop etc, as trying to get it right over the whole image can lead to inconsistent results - anyway I'm jibbering on a bit here...

I think here in this instance your original shot looks fine apart from the sky, so maybe you could blend the sky from the HDR version around the rest of the original.

Cheers
Rob
 
soulfire909 said:
Hi Joe

I don't think any amount of HDR or any other process is going to do much for that white sky unfortunately. I think you have to have at least something going in the original shot for it to work well. Also the HDR version looks a little soft, did you use a tripod? One of the biggest problems with HDR & Photomatix in general is that is robs the scene of contrast, so you really need to add this back in post processing otherwise this can also add to the softness of the final result. Another trick that some people try with Photomatix is to process 2 different tonemaps, 1 for the sky & 1 for the subject and then blend then in Photoshop etc, as trying to get it right over the whole image can lead to inconsistent results - anyway I'm jibbering on a bit here...

I think here in this instance your original shot looks fine apart from the sky, so maybe you could blend the sky from the HDR version around the rest of the original.

Cheers
Rob
Click to expand...

Rob, were you talking about the sky from my first HDR attempt or the new sky I added above?
 
Joe

I like your second go -I'm an absolute novice at HDR so hats off to you for having a go!

IMHO I'd also look at cropping the photo slightly on the left to balance the arch to the centre and also perhaps at the bottom to remove a few more cobbles/setts and bring the arch slightly lower in the pictire rather than in the middle.....?

Buck
 
Buck said:
Joe

I like your second go -I'm an absolute novice at HDR so hats off to you for having a go!

IMHO I'd also look at cropping the photo slightly on the left to balance the arch to the centre and also perhaps at the bottom to remove a few more cobbles/setts and bring the arch slightly lower in the pictire rather than in the middle.....?

Buck
Click to expand...

Cheers Buck, Cropping to the left I'll look at, I think the cobbles give a bit of foreground interest and texture though so I wonder if removing them would result in a less effective composure?
 
sparkoss said:
Im sorry but i prefer the original! I like the natural look a lot more. Would be a lot better at sunset/sunrise.
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Cheers,

Should have been more specific in my original post. I'm not really looking for a discussion on whether the HDR is better than the original. I definitely prefer the HDR and HDr is something I really like

Some people like HDr, others don't, what I'm looking for is those people who do like HDR to tell me on this conversion what I did right and what I did wrong
:)
 
I don't think that just because you don't have a blue sky you have to convert to mono. Cloudy skies can add different dimensions, making things look moody or menacing the sky in post 13 works well, I could have applied a bright sky but not sure it would look as good
 
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