I have enormous respect for the guys like nzmacro and coastalconn, who shoot moving critters with such precision and have the technical know how to produce great images. As for HDR there surely is some poor images out there and also some excellent artwork employing HDR. I like that reaper is trying to push boundaries and I like what barbarian and fokker have posted. They exhibit good composition and that's why it works. The general photography standards and techniques comment reminds me of the comments made by the prevailing artists when the Impressionist painters came upon the scene in the 1860s. Although I've been doing it for a lifetime, I''m probably not a great technical photographer. I look at the photoshop/lightroom thread and it all seems foreign to me. I don't really have a workflow, I suppose. I'm more of an artist too lazy to paint or sculpt. I have a camera instead and I've been able to make it say what I feel and for me, most importantly, I've been able to sell what I make. One of my students who has been on a couple of my workshops does HDR. He knows the technical aspects because that's his personality and talent. He's slowly coming to terms with his artistic talents as well, which means we both are finding success in our efforts. I don't have a clue how to do HDR. Perhaps I'll learn. But for me, the most satisfying element of this debate is seeing others attempting to circumvent convention for the sake of art.
