My first try... please share your thoughts

b.baer · Apr 10, 2012

I'm fairly new to the photography world. Which I absolutly love! I'm slowly learning new things. My first attempt at an HDR photo.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and advice. Thank you

bs0604 · Apr 10, 2012

Excellent color processing.
If the light had been falling on his/her eyes such that the pupils were viewable and the iris' glowed the picture would have been more compelling.

vipgraphx · Apr 10, 2012

I am going to go in the opposite direction. Not crazy about the composition and the over all look of the processing. There is some halo my the dogs head and the white metal looking part behind him. Its a good first attempt and I encourage you to keep trying.

The dog looks sad. So positive is that you captured emotion.

LuckySe7en · Apr 10, 2012

what's on the right side? I would move it and try to set up a better photo. It looks like you caught your dog in this position and decided to shoot. Try to use some fill on the bottom part of his face or a reflector so that the first thing we see is the dog's face. Right now the first thing I notice is the oof focus background and that metal thing on the right.

b.baer · Apr 10, 2012

Thanks everyone, I will take in your help tips on the halos and your other tips. I will try harder on my next try.

Yes, I did just walk in and saw my dog laying there and snapped her photo.

The white thing everyone is referring to is my base board heat. She was cold and always lays next to it when she is cold.

shootermcgavin · Apr 10, 2012

Why do a dog picture in HDR? I don't think the photo really called for it.

DiskoJoe · Apr 10, 2012

I started out doing hdr of building. Very nice way to start. Static objects work best for the process and can handle long exposure best. You get great detail with long exposure and can really bring out detail better. There is no way you could get seven exposures of a dog without it moving. Bu real easy with a building. Try it some time. You'll like!

b.baer · Apr 10, 2012

Well I had just discovered the HDR mode on my camera and wanted to try it but I'm a stay at home mom and it isn't always so easy for me to get out and venture around. Yes, it didn't need it but I was playing around with HDR mode and my dog just happen to be there. Like I said its all new to me so it was pretty much just a test shot.

vipgraphx · Apr 10, 2012

ehh don't sweat it. Just have fun. Try going outside in your back yard in the morning or sunset and try taking interesting photos of what ever is around. Good processing is key to a good hdr. Its a fun avenue of photography. Sometimes you can take a single raw image and tone map it with very similar results of multiple exposures.

b.baer · Apr 10, 2012

Thanks, ill keep that in mind. I'm bot sweating it. Just enjoying it. Photography is just a fun and amazing thing! Absolutly love it no matter the shot. I will not give up and will keep trying. Thank you for motivating me and all of your kind words and advice.

manaheim · Apr 10, 2012

bs0604 said:
Excellent color processing.
If the light had been falling on his/her eyes such that the pupils were viewable and the iris' glowed the picture would have been more compelling.

I'm just going to say -1.

Joel_W · Apr 11, 2012

I understand that you just wanted to test out the HDR option in your camera, and that getting out isn't always an option. But your choice of subject isn't what HDR is for, so it doesn't add anything to your composition. I keep on looking at your picture and the tip of the nose is in focus, but the eyes are already slightly out of focus, and that's where most people, including me 1st focus on.

spicyTuna · Apr 11, 2012

I think a simple HDR to try is photographing the inside of your house (bedroom or living room) with the curtains wide open during broad daylight. Done right you should be able to get both the inside of your room and outdoors "exposed" correctly.

ch3360 · Apr 19, 2012

Do you like your picture? I posted a few HDR's in the general gallery and they were described as cooked, posterized, etc..... It was my first attempt as well and the constructive criticism came from people probably with far more experience.... BUT I liked them and my family / friends whom I shared them with liked them. So if you like it that's what matters. Feedback is still good but don't get discouraged by some of it.

manaheim · Apr 20, 2012

ch3360 said:
Do you like your picture? I posted a few HDR's in the general gallery and they were described as cooked, posterized, etc..... It was my first attempt as well and the constructive criticism came from people probably with far more experience.... BUT I liked them and my family / friends whom I shared them with liked them. So if you like it that's what matters. Feedback is still good but don't get discouraged by some of it.

You also have to ask yourself what you're trying to achieve.

Some of my family and friends like Thomas Kincade and crayon scratchings from my five year old, but I hardly want my work to be held up to those standards.

I want my work in a museum, as a surprise discovery as masterwork 30 years after I die, or as art hung in regal hallways of the art connoisseurs ... Not on a refrigerator or over an electric fireplace in some shanty somewhere.

Sound snobby? You're damn right it is.