Beginner - Washington DC

NancyMoranG · Nov 30, 2014

oh great, I have to follow Engalunda's post of "Sweet dreams"!
Anyway, I am attempting some HDR with Photomatix Pro.
Was in DC in October and want to thank Braineak, JoeW and Nevermore1 for their comments on where to go.

George Washingtons estate, Mt Vernon was neat. He put his paddle wheel from his grist mill, inside to keep it from the elements so it would last longer. I was hoping the wood and stone wall would have alittle more oomph.
Any thoughts appreciated on any aspect of this.

Mt Vernon Grist Mill by Nancy Moran G, on Flickr

This is the kitchen. Door next to the end of the mantle, and the exit door just to left of the photo. (You can see sun shining on wall) Altho the walls are not perfect, I think those "black" spots got a little darker than they should be. Don't know what I did there?

Mt Vernon kitchen 2 by Nancy Moran G, on Flickr

This is Monticello, Thomas Jeffersons estate kitchen. If you look on the left wall, there is actually a 5 burner stove! Small fires in the bottom with 5 openings for different dishes.

Monticello kitchen_01 by Nancy Moran G, on Flickr

I actually took the last photo a few months ago, but visitied again in October with my son.
Thanks guys and gals,
Nancy

Nevermore1 · Nov 30, 2014

I like them, the only issue I see (and I'm far from being an expert) is that the first one looks rather "bright" to me. I wonder what it would look like darkened up a bit.

TheStunch · Nov 30, 2014

the tough part of hdr is making it still look like a proper photo, and not overly heavy handed in the hdr processing. The photos themselves are nice, but I'd dial back the hdr effect a bit, so you can make out the increased dynamic range, but not to the point where it looks too hdr-ish. HDR is like salt: just enough can bring your photo to life, too much and the photo is ruined. I might try some selective shading/highlighting to push or pull elements of the photo to get the desired effect. car photographers do this alot for fine details in challenging shooting situations, and that could be applied to good effect in this type of stetting

CaboWabo · Dec 1, 2014

I like both of them , maybe adjust the blues to pull them out of signage

NancyMoranG · Dec 2, 2014

Thank you for comments and suggestions.
How do I darken or try your suggestions? Do I do that in Photmatix or put it into my only other product of PSE 11. I don't know Elements well yet though.
Anyone interested in editing it to show me your thoughts?
Thanks.
Nancy

Murray Bloom · Dec 5, 2014

The yellows are too vibrant in the first two and you've lost the bricks on the rear wall in the third. You can correct the first two in PSE, but for the third, you may want to revisit Photomatix.