First attempt at HDR

[90sShooter]

Just thought I would post this as it is my first real attempt at HDR. I still have a LONG way to go but I am getting the hang of it. Next I want to try a night seen with neon lights.

 

[Reef Bass]

Mongo like! A pretty picture for sure.

I think the dynamic range could be higher. There appears to be one or two bright pixels on the cliff that are distracting to me. With that much sky, did you use a polarizing filter?

 

[kilroy217]

really nice first attempt. IMO, you can brighten up the foreground a little bit more. And, as reef bass said, the few bright pixels on the cliff need to be fixed. nicely done, and keep practicing!

 

[90sShooter]

No polarizing filter, should I have? I never saw that white dot until you pointed it out, although I only see one maybe you can point it out?

I was trying to keep the shot as realistic as possible not trying to get carried away, although I agree the foreground could be a little lighter.

Thanks guys!

 

[90sShooter]

Here, I did a little more work to it. Better?

 

[90sShooter]

cropped and finished. I think...

 

[Recty]

I do like that better than the original, although the cliffs on the right seem to have lost a little detail in the brightening process. Probably nothing you can help though.

To be honest, nothing in the picture looks "tack" sharp, what was it that you were focusing on? The rock in the water or something else?

 

[90sShooter]

I beleive I was focused on the rock. I never seem to get really sharp images with my 10-22... lots of distortion and chromatic aberations from hell.

 

[Recty]

Hmmm, that explains it. I had a 10-22 as well and I eventually sold it because I never could get the real sharp images I wanted.

How did you handle the HDR process for the water? Obviously it's impossible to stack moving objects like water automatically... so did you just pick a frame you liked best or did the software do a good job of it?

 

[90sShooter]

The software did most of it. I did take the middle exposure and blend it in Photoshop but it came out good from the start. My shutter speeds were pretty fast and with my 7D 7fps shooting capabilities I was able to handhold with pretty much zero camera shake. Combine that with the wide angle, and while I am sure there was some wave movement I think it was minimized pretty well. At least that is my amatuer opinion

Yeah I have been looking at the 16-35 but I don't have the funds for that. Plus with my little crop body I really like the 10mm (16) capabilites of the 10-22. For now it will suffice for some decent landscape and wide angle shots.

 

[Recty]

That explains some of it, with a HDR shot you want to be on a tripod for sure. Even with only having a little less than half of a second pass by during the three shot set, you're still going to have a little camera movement.

I bet if you used a tripod or even sat your camera on some rocks, you'll like your next HDR attempt a lot better

 

[90sShooter]

I agree, but it was kind of a last minute thing and I didn't have my tripod...

 

[Recty]

Sorry, I thought you wanted helpful tips! I was just trying to point out some areas to improve, I certainly dont need to and you are doing a good job, my tips are just tips, nothing that you HAVE to do to be "good", your pictures are good enough

 

[90sShooter]

No I appreciate it! Trust me! I would like to eventually do this as more than just a hobby, I need to know what other people think. What I think is good is not always what most people would consider good. To be honest, I don't think it is all that good. Definitely nothing I would publish... Just my first attempt

 

[snorvich]

I like the mood of the revised photo much better but sharpness would be appreciated. Still, a nice job for the first . . .

 

[dapettit]

Now that's HDR. I like what you've done. I too have started dive into HDR.

 

[jbmathwiz]

You might want to re evaluate the framing of the shot, that rock and the sun are right smack dab in the middle of the frame and it hurts the flow. A more appealing image would be if the sun and rock were up in the left top corner. (you did this a little in the most recent edit, but I would still push it out farther onto that point.) You could also get the horizon line to be a bit more off center, It'll add more flow. Looks good though, keep it up!

 

[jimmy_beaner]

You can always improvise something like a tripod... worst case scenario, set it on a rock or something so that it doesn't move and use the 2 or 10 second delay shutter. HDR really needs the pixels to line up in order to come together really nicely, which requires no camera movement. The second set looks more HDR like... the first picture looks like it could've been taken with a single exposure.

 

[Jabrams]

Did you use CS5 w/ HDR for this?

If not, what HDR tool did you use?

Joe

 

[kilroy217]

seems to be a bit of a halo around the subject rock in the middle of the water. other than that, i like the editted version better than the original. great job.