Hyperreality photography... HDR and other effects

sabbath999 · Jan 30, 2009

I've been playing with a lot of hyperreality processing of images lately, mostly using the "Orton Effect" (emulating the style of processing originally developed by Michael Orton)... for those unfamiliar with what it is, here's the wiki: The Orton Effect.

Many, MANY of you all have embraced HDR with a passion, and are producing some AMAZING pictures using the technique.

As I have begun posting my pictures, I am getting comments about how people don't care for the effect I am using, but they think my process is well done. Many is the time when I have seen very dark and brooding HDR's that blow me away with their quality that I personally don't really like.

I have a friend that shoots does some HDR and he says that he gets both the most positive and the most negative comments about his HDR work compared to the (outstanding) stuff he produces which isn't HDR.

I am curious about my fellow forum mates thoughts on hyperreality photography.

Me, I am working on taking the Orton effect as a starting point, and then trying to develop that into my own style of photography and processing. When I was a kid, I lived in Japan, and Japan in the 1960's was VIVID. One of the biggest events of my young life was when we went to the World's Fair of 1970 in Osaka. It was like a riot of color backdropped against a crystal blue sky, and my dad (who was a pretty good shooter himself) captured it all in glorious Kodachrome. The blues and reds and yellows and greens burned themselves into my eyes, and they are still there today.

I don't expect, or even particularly care, if people like what I am doing... I mean, it's nice if I make somebody smile but in reality what I am doing is essentially a personal process and a personal journey. If somebody makes a suggestion that is helpful, well that's great... if not, that's OK too.

Does anybody else have a "philosophy" of their hyperreality processing? Do you have destination, a goal?

Just curious.

Dubious Drewski · Jan 30, 2009

My favourite kind of HDR is the kind you can't notice. When you view an HDR photo and you have some suspicious thoughts at the back of your head that this photo looks a bit surreal, but you can't put your finger on what it is, that's a successful HDR.

With that said, I think completely forgetting about reality and making art is great too. I've seen some crazy unrealistic but highly stylized HDR that I thought was spectacular. The best ones often end up looking like a Normal Rockwell painting.

What I truly hate though, is the half-assed stuff. The stuff people just send through photomatix without a care. The stuff with halos and artifacts everywhere. That is garbage.

ann · Jan 30, 2009

On occasion i use both HDR with tone mapping to create something out of the box, and there are times i use it to gain the full tonal range needed, which doesn't call for tone mapping, or very little so it would be hard to notice.

i also use the orton effect from time to time.

the image always drives the decision.

JerryPH · Jan 30, 2009

I've just started into going into the deep end of photo-processing, and manaheim's discussion/thread on what is over processed kinda overlaps this one. I am trying everything I can get my hands on... HDR, oil painting effects, sketch effects... ANYTHING, and I am looking and seeing if it is for me. The process is very educating at the very least, and I am finding a lot that will work for me in different scenarios and slowly finding my sweet spot.

As I said there, unless this is for a paying client, do what makes YOU happy and in the case of the paying client, do what makes them happy.

I think that the possibilities are literally endless and one should go from one extreme to the other and the best part of all that is that you find your niche that makes you happy. If you have not found your sweet spot, no matter whether it is in hyper-reality or B&Ws or anything else, you are never going to be truly satisfied with your style.

I say... do what makes you happy, and place a little less emphasis on what makes other people, who's opinions should matter less than yours... happy.

This is the internetz, everyone is an expert and everyone is a critic, but very few really know what they are even talking about.

rubbertree · Jan 30, 2009

I love the Orton Effect and have spent some time playing with it and developing my own style with it as well. I love it. I have only ever received positive feedback from it, mostly comments about it looking like a painting, it's dreamy quality and some people just don't know how to articulate what they are seeing, just that they like it. I have a few pictures with this effect that have won awards in the past year and also a few others that have been published or been included in a gallery or showing. I have 2 more that have already been selected for a gallery showing later this summer for a botanical garden here that is celebrating a big anniversary.
Response has been good!