HDR Landscape

[fokker]

I don't usually like HDR's, but there was no way I could shoot this scene without blowing out sky, so I thought I'd have a crack at it. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, but would like to hear others' thoughts on it.

I've tried to keep it pretty realistic looking, and I think I achieved that to the level of someone who doesn't know much about photos wouldn't pick up that it looked 'unusual'.

 

[Hardrock]

Beautiful! how many exposures and processing?

 

[fokker]

6 exposures from about -2.5 to +2.5, processed in photomatix and tweaked slightly in CS3.

 

[Eventer]

I really like it, I dont know much about HDRs but I think you nailed it The hills look awesome!

 

[ghpham]

well done. It actually looks realistic vs. the fantasy looking one that I've seen way over done.

 

[Abby Rose]

I love it! Fantastic. That right there is the reason that HDR fascinates me.

 

[pbelarge]

Fokker
I love the composition.

I think you have dust, either on the sensor or your lens.
I also noticed a little lens flare, just below the blown out portion of the cloud (towards the middle)

 

[fokker]

Thanks for all the comments.

Yes I see looking at it now the two spots of (what appears to be) sensor dust and the lens flare. I guess I didn't look at parts of the image too closely before, just the overall picture.

Also just to point out; the whiteish looking streak in the very centre of the shot is actually steam, as the area this was shot in (near Rotorua, for anybody who's been there) is rich in geothermal activity.

I'm probably going to re-do this HDR. I noticed the bush in the very foreground at the left has a ghost image, which I was able to remedy by changing a setting in photomatix, but that attempt didn't come out so good overall.

 

[TheSolicitor]

Wow. This is remarkable!

 

[myfotoguy]

Nice job!! HDR is perfect for scenes like this.
I recently got Photomatix. Did you adjust any settings, or use default?

 

[fokker]

I adjusted everything, it can be hard to see the effect at times but it's worth the time to go through and tweak everything. If you're using RAW files to create the HDR then make sure you choose sRGB as your colour space - it took me ages to realise mine was set on something different, causing everything to look weird.

 

[Mendoza]

Absolutely stunning location. Really the "worst" thing I can say about this is that the lake was slightly cut off on the left. Excellent job processing, though you might considering tweaking it just a bit so as to render the ground (and the highlights therein) a hair brighter*. Frankly this is the best landscape shot I've seen in awhile--owing both to the [foreign] topography and your skill in capturing it.
*(Wrote that before I read your previous post.)