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Lighthouse in Michigan! Tips?

DGMPhotography

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Hello,

I'm still a newb but I'm trying my hand at HDR. Can you tell me what you think/tips? By the way, this is a pseudo HDR because I don't have a tripod yet to do the multiple exposures thing.

Thanks!
 
I don't know much about HDR, but those are the strongest halos I've seen in my life. Whatever you did, you should have stopped waaaaaaay before it looked like that. :)

Now, about the composition, it's usually not flattering when things are distorted like that. The lighthouse's supposed to be straight and you should have probably looked for a viewpoint that didn't make it look like this. Another option, if a different viewpoint wasn't possible, is to correct it in postproduction, but for that you need a lot of room between the borders and the subject, which unfortunately you don't have here.
Keep in mind this distortion in wide lenses gets stronger as you leave the center of the frame.
 
If you cant do it right then dont do it at all. This isnt an HDR image. Read the sticky at the beginning of the forum. Most DSLR cameras can do at least 3 auto bracketed shots. Brace yourself against something and just do it. It cant be any worse than you have here. Meanwhile, save your bucks and get a tripod. They go for as little as $5.
 
I agree that more thought has to be put into picture composition.

Relating to a similar post on haloing, does anyone have a suggestion to reduce this common effect in HDR where light areas meet dark? I have read that increasing the Light mode more to Maximum in Photomatix can reduce haloing.
 
I don't know much about HDR, but those are the strongest halos I've seen in my life. Whatever you did, you should have stopped waaaaaaay before it looked like that. :)

Now, about the composition, it's usually not flattering when things are distorted like that. The lighthouse's supposed to be straight and you should have probably looked for a viewpoint that didn't make it look like this. Another option, if a different viewpoint wasn't possible, is to correct it in postproduction, but for that you need a lot of room between the borders and the subject, which unfortunately you don't have here.
Keep in mind this distortion in wide lenses gets stronger as you leave the center of the frame.

Okay, I get the halo thing. There was plenty much nonstop clouds, so the contrast between them and the lighthouse I'm assuming are the main cause for that. But what do you mean the lighthouse is distorted? Why is it "supposed" to be straight? And thanks! :)
 
I agree that more thought has to be put into picture composition.

Relating to a similar post on haloing, does anyone have a suggestion to reduce this common effect in HDR where light areas meet dark? I have read that increasing the Light mode more to Maximum in Photomatix can reduce haloing.

What thought would you have made? I mean, it looks good to me, what do you think is wrong?
 
If you cant do it right then dont do it at all. This isnt an HDR image. Read the sticky at the beginning of the forum. Most DSLR cameras can do at least 3 auto bracketed shots. Brace yourself against something and just do it. It cant be any worse than you have here. Meanwhile, save your bucks and get a tripod. They go for as little as $5.

Wow, harsh. I'm sorry, I only had a few minutes to get on here and this was my first HDR so I wanted to upload it and just go to bed, didn't have time to read the sticky - I'll read it now though. I have a Nikon D5100 and actually found out it does have an HDR mode. But any of the HDR pictures I took with it looked hardly any different than the ones I took without it, by the way, the software I used is HDRtist, a free program, and I you're right, this isn't a "true" HDR. This is a pseudo HDR, since I did it with just one exposure. Can you tell me where I can get a dependable $5 tripod that is worth trusting to hold up an $800 camera? Thanks! :)
 
If you cant do it right then dont do it at all. This isnt an HDR image. Read the sticky at the beginning of the forum. Most DSLR cameras can do at least 3 auto bracketed shots. Brace yourself against something and just do it. It cant be any worse than you have here. Meanwhile, save your bucks and get a tripod. They go for as little as $5.

Also, if YOU read he first sticky at the beginning of the forum, you would see we are not supposed to discuss what "is and isn't" an HDR image. Not gonna report you or anything, just letting you know.
 
... HALOS ...SMH

practice but first thing you should do before you try another HDR is get a tripod... u can do a handheld but your gonna get handshake 167% of the time
 
I don't know much about HDR, but those are the strongest halos I've seen in my life. Whatever you did, you should have stopped waaaaaaay before it looked like that. :)

Now, about the composition, it's usually not flattering when things are distorted like that. The lighthouse's supposed to be straight and you should have probably looked for a viewpoint that didn't make it look like this. Another option, if a different viewpoint wasn't possible, is to correct it in postproduction, but for that you need a lot of room between the borders and the subject, which unfortunately you don't have here.
Keep in mind this distortion in wide lenses gets stronger as you leave the center of the frame.

Okay, I get the halo thing. There was plenty much nonstop clouds, so the contrast between them and the lighthouse I'm assuming are the main cause for that. But what do you mean the lighthouse is distorted? Why is it "supposed" to be straight? And thanks! :)

Of course you have all the freedom in the world to compose an image, and nothing is 'supposed' to be in any particular way... But there are certain things that are hard to 'accept' for a viewer... and when you have things like a lighthouse, which is supposed to be straight, going in a complete diagonal... then it tends to be rejected by viewers. Of course this is just an opinion.

Anyway, I try to speak on behalf of everyone here... And while sometimes some comments might sound hard, they're intended to help you see your errors and get better. We tend not to be very objective when it comes to our work.
 
I kind of LIKE the extreme keystoning...everything all points to the middle of the frame, and the composition seems good. The haloing is exceptionally strong...I've never seen anything quite that strong, halo-wise. The color palette...that cool blue...I kind of like it. Keep at it. Get a tripod though. Gotta have a tripod if your handle ends in "Photography", ya' know?
 
I don't know much about HDR, but those are the strongest halos I've seen in my life. Whatever you did, you should have stopped waaaaaaay before it looked like that. :)

Now, about the composition, it's usually not flattering when things are distorted like that. The lighthouse's supposed to be straight and you should have probably looked for a viewpoint that didn't make it look like this. Another option, if a different viewpoint wasn't possible, is to correct it in postproduction, but for that you need a lot of room between the borders and the subject, which unfortunately you don't have here.
Keep in mind this distortion in wide lenses gets stronger as you leave the center of the frame.

Okay, I get the halo thing. There was plenty much nonstop clouds, so the contrast between them and the lighthouse I'm assuming are the main cause for that. But what do you mean the lighthouse is distorted? Why is it "supposed" to be straight? And thanks! :)

Of course you have all the freedom in the world to compose an image, and nothing is 'supposed' to be in any particular way... But there are certain things that are hard to 'accept' for a viewer... and when you have things like a lighthouse, which is supposed to be straight, going in a complete diagonal... then it tends to be rejected by viewers. Of course this is just an opinion.

Anyway, I try to speak on behalf of everyone here... And while sometimes some comments might sound hard, they're intended to help you see your errors and get better. We tend not to be very objective when it comes to our work.

Haha, well thanks, I didn't know how lighthouses were supposed to be. I actually do have one at a straight angle if you want to see that, I'll upload it later. Thanks for the advice! :)
 
I kind of LIKE the extreme keystoning...everything all points to the middle of the frame, and the composition seems good. The haloing is exceptionally strong...I've never seen anything quite that strong, halo-wise. The color palette...that cool blue...I kind of like it. Keep at it. Get a tripod though. Gotta have a tripod if your handle ends in "Photography", ya' know?

Thank you for the nice comment! You're right about the haloing though. True about the tripod, is there one that you would recommend? I don't want to spend a lot of money, I've spent pretty much everything I have on the camera itself!
 

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