HDR Sunset Feedback/Tips?

[jdsfighter]

I was out today trying to capture a nice sunset. Really one of the first times I tried it with any measure of success. I'd love to here what feedback you have, as well as any tips you may have!

 

[KmH]

It doesn't look like you increased the dynamic range of the scene any - HDR = high dynamic range.

Did you make a series of 3 or more bracketed exposures at say -2 EV, 0 EV, +2 EV, and then blend them together?
Video tutorials on taking photos for HDR

Videos tutorials on Photomatix and shooting for HDR photography

Composition wise, having the Sun and the horizon so close to the center of the image really diminishes a sense of tension and drama that helps promote viewer interest.

In this sunset HDR I set the EV steps of my bracketed exposure series to expand the dynamic range of the sky, I made a 6 exposure series with 1EV steps.
When I blended the exposures I did so selectively so I could decrease the exposure of the foreground. I wanted the sky to be the 'star of the show' with the Sun as a supporting player.
I composed the image mainly using the visual art composition guideline known as the Rule of Thirds. Composition: Using the Rule of Thirds
I used Photomatix Pro and Photoshop to blend and tone map the exposure series and produce the final image. The total editing time was about an hour.
The diffraction spikes emanating from the sun are caused by the lens aperture blades when a lens is stopped down to a small aperture. I used f/16 for the bracketed series I made

 

[jdsfighter]

My image actually used 10 bracketed exposures at 1 EV difference between each.

 

[DaninMD]

My image actually used 10 bracketed exposures at 1 EV difference between each.

Really? what program are you using to blend them?? honestly for the effect you got (which I personally like) could have easily been done in lightroom pretty easily with a single exposure. Also, I never understood why people take so many bracketed shots for HDR. I have always done just three. I mean all you are trying to do is get the exposure for the shadows and highlights and then one for the middle and combining the exposures for those areas. Not sure why 6, 10, etc are really needed. would be interested to see what it looks like if you took the three best (shadows, highlights, middle) and blended those. I suspect the high number of shots is the culprit here.

 

[Light Guru]

My image actually used 10 bracketed exposures at 1 EV difference between each.

Just because there were 10 bracketed images does not mean that exposure data from all 10 of those images was used.

Like others have said it does not look like there was much of a increase in dynamic range. Thats NOT a bad thing though.

To help us see how much it increased the dynamic range posed a unedited version of the normal exposure in your bracket.

 

[jdsfighter]

My image actually used 10 bracketed exposures at 1 EV difference between each.

Just because there were 10 bracketed images does not mean that exposure data from all 10 of those images was used.

Like others have said it does not look like there was much of a increase in dynamic range. Thats NOT a bad thing though.

To help us see how much it increased the dynamic range posed a unedited version of the normal exposure in your bracket.

Here's the original at standard exposure

 

[AlanKlein]

Lightening up the shadows of the rocks as shown in the first shot just detracts from the sunset. It pulls the eye down to the rocks which are very uninteresting. The pre-edited shot is better if you just increased saturations and contrast a little. Let the foreground remain fairly dark. Who wants to see any details there anyway?