Florida - Spring Break

[Doublehelix]

Haven't done much with HDR over the years, although sometimes I do like to over-saturate and over-sharpen things to get that HDR look. I know the over-processed look is not always popular, but sometimes, you just gotta push the sliders to 11!!!

We were on Spring Break in Florida about a week ago, and I am always paranoid to take my nice camera and lenses with me on trips like this for fear of getting them lost or stolen from the hotel or car, so I end up in the most beautiful places with my backup camera most of the time. (Sorta defeats the purpose of having a nice camera, eh?) These were taken with my old D90 with the 18-105 kit lens, and even for its age, it does a decent enough job, even with the kit lens.

The first image is the only true HDR out of the bunch, a 3-shot, 1-stop merge, processed in NIK HDR Efx Pro. The second shot is a pseudo-HDR (single-shot) processed in Oloneo Photo Engine, and the last 2 are just single shots that were pushed over the limit in Lightroom. I had issues getting the cloud formations I wanted with the right compositions, so I ended up with a lot of horizons in the middle of the frame which is a real no-no in some circles, but these are just for fun anyway, so "what the hey"! The second shot is pretty soft, and honestly should be a throw-away, but I loved the clouds, so I went ahead and played with it anyway. I used the lens correction profile in LR, but still see some pin-cushioning on the horizons, especially with #4. If these were true "keepers" I would probably spend some more time on them to clean up some of the artifacts, but these at least provide a nice memory of our trip as we are now back to the grind of every day life!

Thanks for looking, and I would love to hear some suggestions from the HDR experts (other than over-saturated, which I know and did purposely!).

 

[DaninMD]

I think I like the first shot the least, not because its HDR though. its just a snapshot. not very good composition, and with HDR you would think the sand and that boat would pop more but they are kinda dark and muddy. I think that is the problem I have seen with a lot of people shoot HDR images, they rely on the technique to make an interesting photo and not the composition/content. the other shots are very nice. I think image 2 could be really good if you processed it similar to the others. increase the shadow/decrease highlights etc in LR and I think it could be nice.

 

[Ec1981]

Those are excellent photos, so beautiful, WOW!

 

[ronlane]

#1 would be my least favorite but it's not bad. I think that it's a result of the other three being really good to me.

 

[Designer]

IMO the main fault with all of these is the same: underexposed foreground.

 

[Braineack]

IMO the main fault with all of these is the same: underexposed foreground.

and over saturated everything.

 

[AlanKlein]

Florida - Spring Break

Where are the girls?

 

[robbins.photo]

Florida - Spring Break

Where are the girls?

Ok, see, my thought as well. Florida. Spring break. Drunken coeds everywhere in bikinis. What do we get? Empty beach and a sunset. I've said it before and I'll say it again.. photographers.. sheesh...

Lol

 

[Doublehelix]

Thanks for all the great feedback. Composition... dark foregrounds... no girls...!

Regarding the dark foregrounds, are you suggesting that I lighten them in PP? During sunset like this, the shadows are coming out, and the camera is exposing for the light sky and not the darker foreground. Are you suggesting a different exposure at the camera, or different PP techniques? I kinda liked the moodiness that the dark foreground provides, but I will have a play and see what else I can come up with.

Like I said in the first post, this genre is not my strength, and learning new PP techniques for old guys like me takes time and lots of practice...

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Derrel]

Florida - Spring Break

Where are the girls?

Exactly....come on man....sand is nice...salt water is okay...but uh....c'mon dude...like Alan said, "Where are the girls?" lol

I think your colors are super-intense and rich on these. If you had some hotties in the foregound and say some 1/8 power flash pops to light them up, these would totally rock. But still, these have fabulous color and good detail, and are well-executed technically, for sure.

Yeah..the thing is, to me at least, ocean sunsets are "nice", and"make nice memories", but for them to rise to the level of interesting to others, there NEEDS to be at least some kind of interest in the foreground or middle ground areas...ANYTHING...as long as it's visible and makes some sense...woman, man, kid, dog, boat at anchor, boat coming back to port, boats offshore, fir trees, palm trees, rock formations, woman, man, kid, man and woman, man and dog, kid and dog, motorcyclist, beach buggy, umbrella...crab pots, fishermen sitting in chairs plunking, surfcasters, beach combers, ANYTHING besides "just the sky colors".

I mean, hey, I take these kinds of photos myself whenever I go to the beach, and they make good memories, but I don't usually show them to others.

 

[Designer]

Regarding the dark foregrounds, are you suggesting that I lighten them in PP? During sunset like this, the shadows are coming out, and the camera is exposing for the light sky and not the darker foreground. Are you suggesting a different exposure at the camera, or different PP techniques?

I don't know what could be done in post, but some people on here use gradated neutral density filters. (GND for short) That would keep the exposure of the bright sky normal while allowing more exposure for the foreground.

 

[agp]

Regarding the dark foregrounds, are you suggesting that I lighten them in PP? During sunset like this, the shadows are coming out, and the camera is exposing for the light sky and not the darker foreground. Are you suggesting a different exposure at the camera, or different PP techniques?

I don't know what could be done in post

Photoshop in some girls in bikinis, then all criticism will go away.