Some pointers? (Just starting out)

[Agueli]

Hello everyone! First time poster here, so be gentle.

I've been experimenting with HDR for the past three months now and I think I've come to a stage where it would be nice to get some input from others.

The first I'm kind of happy with, the second as well as I find B&W very appealing, but the third... I've found this "overcooked"(?) technique to not be very popular around here... I would like to get this to look right (and without all the damn bleeding) anyway, because to me there is some appeal. So, what do I need to keep in mind for the future? Comments on composition are welcome as well. Thanks!


Lastly, I'm 20 years old and Swedish, so sorry if I sound a bit slow.

 

[runnah]

My feeling is that HDR is best used in small doses. The B&W image utilized HDR very well because it brings out the contrast in the image. The two color images suffer from the "halo" effect where the trees and building meets the sky. Try re-doing the two color images but using about 50% less effect.

 

[Steve5D]

Runnah hit the nail on the head: it should be used sparingly.

I view it as the "selective color" of the new decade. Selective color, when it first came out, was kinda' cool. Now, though, it's pretty much scoffed at. Serious photographers, from what I can tell, avoid it like a tetanus shot. A friend of mine, who is someone I respect more than anyone else as a photographer, e-mailed telling me I should dial it back a bit (I've been posting a lot of HDR stuff on Facebook), saying that HDR was, like selective coloring, a joke. In reality, though, it makes up only a small fraction of what I actually shoot. My friend continues to give me a good natured ribbing about it.

As for "overcooked", I'm one of those people who actually prefer that look in HDR. That's not to say that I don't enjoy a well-executed, non-overcooked image, though. WHen you start over-cooking, though, you start ending up with halos, and I hate halos, so it's a dichotomy for me.

Like anything else, proficiency will come with practice, and learning your software...

 

[amolitor]

I think the main thing is to figure out what you like. HDR/tonemapping is just a technology, which can be used to create a variety of effects.

Some people (me) think it looks best when you can't even tell it's been used. You can use it to subtly fill in the shadows, and bring a little detail into the brightest areas. It just looks like a bright, contrasty scene that's been masterfully shot. You can tell where the light is coming from, and you believe it.

Some people like it overcooked, with wildly popped colors.

Some people like it black and white.

Some people like it with no sense of light coming from anywhere, a sort of eerie "everything is evenly lit" feeling, like a render or a video game.

There's a ton of stuff you can do with it. By all means, fool around and enjoy playing with the tools, but ultimately I think you might do well to select a vision for how you want your images to look, how you are going to apply this technology to create a look you like. Then you can dig in to the problems inherent in that, and develop solutions for them (technical problems have technical solutions, and artistic ones have artistic ones, usually -- you will find BOTH kinds of problems, no matter what path you choose).

 

[mgilvey]

The others have great recommendations so I'll just add the following: correct the perspective on the B&W and try flopping the lake photo so the lines lead to the island instead of away from it. Also include something in foreground to add more depth. There are many ways to use HDR. I like to paint it back into the image sparingly. Others go for super saturation. Smart phones are a great way to experiment with both methods to get it out of you system so when you shoot seriously, you can be more methodical with you DSLR.

UPDATE: Looking at the first image, it's probably fine as is, no need for something else in the foreground as it would only kill the reflection thing that's happening.