Did I achieve my goals?

[jpticar]

Hey all, I originally posted this in the HDR section, but its tough to get critiquing there as there is much less traffic.

Basically I've been trying to work on image quality of my hdrs. Sometimes I feel that I introduce a lot of noise to the image after tonemapping and post processing. How does the overall image quality of these two pictures seem to you guys? My hdr processing is done in photomatix and usually post processed slightly in photoshop, topaz, and light room for final touches.

This first image I used bracketed shots mainly to capture as many veins and details as possible in the petals, while still trying to keep the center of the in focus flower tack sharp.


This second image really isnt the most interesting picture, its just the view from my balcony. With this shot I wanted to practice keeping my hdr processing to a natural with a slight punch feel. I really tried for a sky that was not too over done and basically noise free. For this shot I had a 6 stop nd stacked with a cp.


So how'd I do? Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

[jowensphoto]

For your first time, I think you did pretty well. They both have compostion issues, like the bg in the first (which, with HDR, I'd assume you could render completely black in this instance - I could be wrong). The tree is distracting in the second, but I think making the tree the subject would have a great impact. Right now it's just kind of a green blob in the middle.


This will probably get moved to the HDR gallery, where you'll get a bigger response.

 

[tirediron]

We'll try the General Gallery and see how the traffic is there...

 

[candidchick]

They're both great, and very well done for your first time doing so

 

[jpticar]

They're both great, and very well done for your first time doing so

Thanks! Im a little confused why everyone is saying first time lol. Are they really that bad! I've done a bunch of hdr's in the past, except this time I really tried to concentrate on not introducing any noise while tonemapping and post processing.

 

[jpticar]

Here's another I snapped last night from the roof of my building. Its a random crop size, but I'm pretty happy with it. I thought the lights in the windows and all the people on the roof made it a pretty cool shot.




Uploaded with ImageShack.us