Trying Out HDR - How Am I Doing?

**yankees368** · 2012-06-05, 03:58 PM

Thanks for the advice. No need to worry about your comments, I posted here to get criticism :-)

**gonzalu** · 2012-06-05, 04:20 PM

Actually with HDR there is no right / wrong and simply taste. If you like it, who cares what other's think? Only seek to get advice to achieve a particular look, not the other way around. Your own creativity and taste is what you should be after. That should be paramount.

You will know that every HDR pro likes to say that after years of "overdoing it" the one thing that almost anyone who has done it for a while wants to achieve is the "as close to natural" as possible ... to me in HDR, the one thing that will NEVER be is a natural look to an HDR LOL. However, almost everyone agrees that halos never look good so that's my current challenge which is to get rid of halos and still have the wild HDR look.

I also use HDR to enhance shadow detail when I screw up the picture or when conditions are such that you have to compromise some part of the scene due to Dynamic Range being off the scale for your capture medium.

**NickPeterman** · 2012-06-06, 01:22 AM

Alright, time for some HDR critiques. I really have no eye for "good" HDR, but I like the look with night shots.

Any input?

**lijk604** · 2012-06-06, 08:46 AM

Nick, for me you nailed this one. You were able to capture detail in the shadows while not blowing out the lights inside the terminal. Well done!

I could not have gotten all this detail without HDR

Grand Central HDR by lijk604, on Flickr

**NickPeterman** · 2012-06-06, 08:38 PM

Thank you! That is a fantastic shot you have there!

Here is one with an airplane for a subject

**Vinny Ohare** · 2012-06-06, 09:02 PM

I am also getting into HDR and I do the CS5 photoshop thing and see lousy results. I want to get the photomix hdr program and see there are always coupons for it. Just haven't had the time. I agree with others that Trey's stuff is amazing. I follow him on Google+

**yankees368** · 2012-06-09, 08:42 PM

Tried again tonight, used a bit less of everything. What do you all think?

**wunaladreamin** · 2012-06-09, 09:01 PM

It's an improvement but still a bit flat. TRY PHOTOMATIX!!!

**yankees368** · 2012-06-09, 09:04 PM

I want to, but $$$. Lol. When I scrape the money together, I will pick it up.

**wunaladreamin** · 2012-06-09, 09:33 PM

I say that because I honestly do not think photoshop is capable of giving you the results you're looking for. The lake scene is a very nice shot!

**yankees368** · 2012-06-09, 09:36 PM

Yea, I'm going to have to agree with you. Photoshop does not seem to be able to get that "pop" I'm trying to get. Time to start saving some money. Good thing I don't have to go very far to get to this lake!

**lijk604** · 2012-06-09, 09:48 PM

Do you know that you can Tonemap in Photoshop, and then after hitting ok, you CAN process again?
Depending on the shot a second pass with slightly lighter settings could help.
I think this is a much better HDR than your first try.
One thing you might try is bringing one of your original files in and making a layer from it.
Then mask in some areas to either lighten or darken where appropriate.
Keep it up, it can be addicting though.