Mt. Ranier - First attempt at HDR. C&C please...

[brazilnutjr]

This is my first attempt at HDR. The image is composed (and tweaked) of two pictures I took of Mt. Ranier from a dry creek bed. Any critique or tips appreciated... Thanks!

 

[Sachphotography]

..... ehem....clearing my throat!!!.....hackemmmm...

OK... THIS SHOT IS NOT HDR MATERIAL!!!!!!
Why on earth would you need HDR there.. A properly exposed shot would yeild a much better sharper image. I would shot it like this....

1. Stop down to around F/18-20
2.Shoot ISO 100 or lower..
3. Expose for 1/8th-1/2th a sec a play around with the exposure times to get it right.
4. If you have one use a ND filter. a 6-8 stop filter would be good there. Better yet.. A circular polarizer would really make the colors pop..

Word of advise...stay away from hdr for the next two months and learn basic shooting techniques. Then once you get it out of your system...sit back and marvel at your wonderful non hdr pictures... j/k

oh and BTW.... for a good hdr you will want 3-5 shot at different stops.

but seriously hdr does have a place but this is just not one of them.. Truthfully a good filter would really make that scene pop.

 

[Mulewings~]

What does the original look like? Could you post it?
I think it would help.

The mtn looks off as do the colors,...that could be from HDR.

 

[HikinMike]

..... ehem....clearing my throat!!!.....hackemmmm...

OK... THIS SHOT IS NOT HDR MATERIAL!!!!!!
Why on earth would you need HDR there.. A properly exposed shot would yeild a much better sharper image. I would shot it like this....

1. Stop down to around F/18-20
2.Shoot ISO 100 or lower..
3. Expose for 1/8th-1/2th a sec a play around with the exposure times to get it right.
4. If you have one use a ND filter. a 6-8 stop filter would be good there. Better yet.. A circular polarizer would really make the colors pop..

Word of advise...stay away from hdr for the next two months and learn basic shooting techniques. Then once you get it out of your system...sit back and marvel at your wonderful non hdr pictures... j/k

oh and BTW.... for a good hdr you will want 3-5 shot at different stops.

but seriously hdr does have a place but this is just not one of them.. Truthfully a good filter would really make that scene pop.

While I do agree this is not HDR material, but why f/18-20 and 1/8 - 1/2 sec? You not trying to show movement, unless you want to see trees moving.

 

[brazilnutjr]

..... ehem....clearing my throat!!!.....hackemmmm...

OK... THIS SHOT IS NOT HDR MATERIAL!!!!!!
Why on earth would you need HDR there.. A properly exposed shot would yeild a much better sharper image. I would shot it like this....

1. Stop down to around F/18-20
2.Shoot ISO 100 or lower..
3. Expose for 1/8th-1/2th a sec a play around with the exposure times to get it right.
4. If you have one use a ND filter. a 6-8 stop filter would be good there. Better yet.. A circular polarizer would really make the colors pop..

Word of advise...stay away from hdr for the next two months and learn basic shooting techniques. Then once you get it out of your system...sit back and marvel at your wonderful non hdr pictures... j/k

oh and BTW.... for a good hdr you will want 3-5 shot at different stops.

but seriously hdr does have a place but this is just not one of them.. Truthfully a good filter would really make that scene pop.

Thank you Dan for the reality check and the tips. (LOL) I have much to improve, no doubt. Thank you for sharing how you would have shot this. I will continue to focus on the basics and hopefully make better contributions soon. (Back to the old drawing board...

 

[themedicine]

well, let me just say that this COULD have made a good HDR photo if you had taken more than two photos. Normally a minimum for HDR is three, and average around five. That way you can really underexpose and overexpose in the extremes, thus granting you with more dynamic range. Not just two photos of the same thing smushed together.

just saying.

go back and do it again!!

 

[rallysman]

HDR could have worked here but wasn't necessary. If you don't have ND and Polarizing filters as previously mentioned it would be a decent substitute for them.

Look up how to use bracketing on the D70 and set it for continuous shooting. Rattle off 3 pix @ ISO 200 with aperture priority of f18 or something in that range (for a larger DOF depending on subject distance). Mix those three and practice until it looks real, not too contrasty or like a painting. Make sure you keep the camera as still as possible.

I bet you could get better results from a single image on this one though.

 

[brazilnutjr]

What does the original look like? Could you post it?
I think it would help.

The mtn looks off as do the colors,...that could be from HDR.

Thanks for commenting Mulewings. Here is one of the originals. I think I like it much better than my faux HDR

 

[brazilnutjr]

well, let me just say that this COULD have made a good HDR photo if you had taken more than two photos. Normally a minimum for HDR is three, and average around five. That way you can really underexpose and overexpose in the extremes, thus granting you with more dynamic range. Not just two photos of the same thing smushed together.

just saying.

go back and do it again!!

Thanks! I'll keep trying.

 

[brazilnutjr]

HDR could have worked here but wasn't necessary. If you don't have ND and Polarizing filters as previously mentioned it would be a decent substitute for them.

Look up how to use bracketing on the D70 and set it for continuous shooting. Rattle off 3 pix @ ISO 200 with aperture priority of f18 or something in that range (for a larger DOF depending on subject distance). Mix those three and practice until it looks real, not too contrasty or like a painting. Make sure you keep the camera as still as possible.

I bet you could get better results from a single image on this one though.

Thanks rally! I have a circular polarizer, but not a ND filter. I guess I was trying to kind of make the colors pop out more with this picture and I thought HDR might do it. I should have stuck to adjusting the levels. Lesson learned. I will learn how to use bracketing, however, and on my next attempt at HDR, I will have more than just two pictures to work with.
One of the original non-(faux)HDR images is posted above.

 

[HikinMike]

What does the original look like? Could you post it?
I think it would help.

The mtn looks off as do the colors,...that could be from HDR.

Thanks for commenting Mulewings. Here is one of the originals. I think I like it much better than my faux HDR

Absolutely!! There's no reason to use HDR for an image like that. Now if you had a lot of shadows and highlights, then yes, use HDR or use layer masks (blending).

 

[Dominantly]

What does the original look like? Could you post it?
I think it would help.

The mtn looks off as do the colors,...that could be from HDR.

Thanks for commenting Mulewings. Here is one of the originals. I think I like it much better than my faux HDR

I love Mt Rainer... Was that a Sulfur stream?


If you were looking to darken the mountain and make it pop a bit more you could adjust it independently (or anything else in the photo)...
Like this

 

[Mulewings~]

Nicely done Dominantly.

 

[Sachphotography]

..... ehem....clearing my throat!!!.....hackemmmm...

OK... THIS SHOT IS NOT HDR MATERIAL!!!!!!
Why on earth would you need HDR there.. A properly exposed shot would yeild a much better sharper image. I would shot it like this....

1. Stop down to around F/18-20
2.Shoot ISO 100 or lower..
3. Expose for 1/8th-1/2th a sec a play around with the exposure times to get it right.
4. If you have one use a ND filter. a 6-8 stop filter would be good there. Better yet.. A circular polarizer would really make the colors pop..

Word of advise...stay away from hdr for the next two months and learn basic shooting techniques. Then once you get it out of your system...sit back and marvel at your wonderful non hdr pictures... j/k

oh and BTW.... for a good hdr you will want 3-5 shot at different stops.

but seriously hdr does have a place but this is just not one of them.. Truthfully a good filter would really make that scene pop.

While I do agree this is not HDR material, but why f/18-20 and 1/8 - 1/2 sec? You not trying to show movement, unless you want to see trees moving.

F/18-20 would get everything in focus and would be nice and sharp. 1/8 may be a little on the long side but without shooting it I don't actually know the exact... LOL more of a guesstimation!

That picture looks a lot better Dom!

 

[Dominantly]

Thanks :thumbup: