HDR - Light of the Divine

DragonMoon · Aug 3, 2008

This was initially processed using three separately exposed RAW files in Photomatix. I always start out with the default settings and oddly enough I was quite happy with the initial results. Not much tweeking at all after saving in Photomatix as a bitmap and opening in Photoshop for finishing.

All three exposures were shot with a Canon 20D w/ Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, f/8, ISO 200. Comments and critique welcome!

ann · Aug 3, 2008

are you using a lens hood? the flare is a bit distracking.

Crimsonandwhite · Aug 3, 2008

I love HDR! Yea the flare is a very distracting item, try the hood to get rid of that next time. Otherwise I really liked the comp of this shot, very nice.

DragonMoon · Aug 3, 2008

Huh, I actually liked the lens flare...I'd say it's 50/50 on that one. Would a hood even have prevented that since I was shooting into the sun? A hood is one thing I've actually never picked up...I'll have to order one next time I buy something from B&H.

ksmattfish · Aug 3, 2008

DragonMoon said:
Huh, I actually liked the lens flare...

I like it too. With the sun in the scene it's unlikely a hood would help here. Even though I do like lens flare in the occasional photo (it's sort of like being able to see the brush strokes in a painting to me), I still almost always use a hood. It's like a seat belt or bike helmet; most of the time it's not doing anything, but eventually there's always going to be some bad luck, and I'll be glad I was wearing it.

ann · Aug 4, 2008

i noticed that you are shooting into the sun and it is hard to reduce flare at that point, however, i still find the 'green flare' distracking, but isn't that the joy of what we do. Different things for different folks.

i would still recommend using a lens hood

DragonMoon · Aug 4, 2008

Thanks for the comments! Different strokes for different folks I say!

I have quite a few more HDR's to post too!

NateS · Aug 4, 2008

I'm with the others. My attention was instantly drawn to the huge lens flare and I find it hard to focus on the photo due to that. Otherwise it's a nice photo and good comp.