I jumped into the HDR hole

TheHobbyist · Oct 2, 2012

I snapped a few shots on my way home from the airport the other day. This is my first go with HDR so C&C are appreciated. I was going for a less processed look and I think they still look a tad overdone. #2 is my personal favorite.

#1

HDR2 by GreggCole, on Flickr
#2

HDR1 by GreggCole, on Flickr
#3

HDR4 by GreggCole, on Flickr

cgipson1 · Oct 2, 2012

Not bad at all... at least you resisted the temptation to massively overprocess that most people do, when they first start doing HDR.

480sparky · Oct 2, 2012

Well done! You jumped into the HDR hole, not the HDR abyss.

spacefuzz · Oct 2, 2012

I like the trees, but perhaps its just me but the sky looks a funny grey.

jamesbjenkins · Oct 2, 2012

These aren't bad at all for first tries! I really like 1 and 2. Your composition on 2 is strong.

Pro tip: when you have ugly washed out skies from the tonemapping, you can go into Photoshop with one of original exposures where the sky looks great and mask it back in. It takes patience to make it look right, but it's well worth it on the right image.

Parker219 · Oct 2, 2012

1. Having chromatic aberration right at the focal point ( the sun coming through the trees ) really hurts this image. The grey sky looks muddled and effects some of the leaves, making them look too soft. I also feel the white of the tree trunks are not white enough, they would look cool if they were whiter.

2. Looks the best, but the top portion of the green tree, and around that while area is really off. I think its a combination of bad CA and the sky swallowing the leaves. Love the colors otherwise.

3. Same problem with the CA coming in right where the sun is. Also, I feel with an HDR, you should have been able to pull some more detail out of the first dead tree there.

TheHobbyist · Oct 3, 2012

Thanks for the input. The sky was really gray and cloudy, it was snowing at higher elevations. I'll see if I can do anything in lightroom to improve it.

Unfortunately I was out of town when the color peaked. Now most of the leaves have fallen off.

Steve5D · Oct 3, 2012

In the upper right area of the first photo, there seems to be an extreme level of funkiness going on with the clouds and the trees, and a little bit, as well, in the upper left of the second photo (which, as has been mentioned, is compositionally great!). I wish I could suggest how to fix it, but perhaps others who are more adept will see it and be able to make suggestions.

Not bad, at all, for a first pass, though...