Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
08-20-2014, 03:50 PM   #1
New Member




Join Date: May 2011
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 3
Lake HDR
Lens: DA 18-135 Camera: K-5 Photo Location: Lake Berryessa ISO: 100 Aperture: F11 

I snapped a quick handheld HDR during a recent houseboating trip. I chose HDR to bring out the details in the clouds and the foreground and prevent the image from looking flat. Was that a good choice? Also, I noticed some CA on the top of the stump. Not sure how that to avoid that.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Attached Images
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-5  Photo 
08-20-2014, 06:52 PM   #2
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Miguel's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Near Seattle
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 2,743
Well the tone of the image is just about at the overbaked cliched HDR level which calls way too much attention to itself instead of the actual image. The colors appear unnatural as well.
You are accurate regarding the artifacts around the stump.
From a compositional basis, the photograph seems off kilter to me. The stump is the dominant feature in the shot, and generally I find dead trees and their ilk unartful, especially non-compelling stumps like this one.
I'm curious and trying to be open-minded--what about the stump appeals to you?

M
08-20-2014, 09:42 PM   #3
Pentaxian
pixie's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: California
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 873
I agree with the above remarks when it comes to HDR. As for the "aberrations", I suspect the HDR conversion is to blame there again. Composition-wise I like it. It tells a story, the stump looks as if the tree must have fallen during a storm and slowly deteriorated afterward. On my end, the stump seems out of focus.
08-22-2014, 04:14 PM   #4
Senior Member
OldGeaser's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Posts: 221
I'm not a big fan of HDR but at least it gave you a basis to work with. A little PP makes it an entirely different picture

Attached Images
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-5  Photo 
08-22-2014, 09:31 PM   #5
Veteran Member




Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: London, Canada
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 343
I think the composition works. It would be nicer with a more interesting shape to the stump but you have to work with what you find. The HDR has captured the range of tones . On this site it looks a bit over saturated. I did a screen capture and opened it in PS and it looks better than it does here. As it stands(on this site anyway) I feel it's somewhat over saturated in the reds and yellows, if you pulled them back a bit I think it would look more natural. The biggest problem here are the heavy magenta CA's on the top of the stump and some odd blurring. That would need to be removed and cleaned up. Some people just don't like HDR no matter how it's done. It's not like it's been cranked up to eleven with halos and horrendous colors .
08-22-2014, 09:47 PM   #6
Pentaxian
Sagitta's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Maine
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,081
I like it, though I do agree to an extent about the stump itself. I think if you'd shot from over by the stump, and kept the same general framing, it could have been more compelling in that the 'focus' would be drawn to that wonderful tree off to the left, with the wide open expanse around it.

It would have given a true feeling of emptiness or loneliness, especially with how the colors came out.

In this case the stump doesn't really lend much at all (at least in my opinion).

In my experience with HDR, its always better to just bracket the shot, save the RAW files, then manually work them together in whatever HDR software you are comfortable with. In-camera handhelds rarely work well, and the lack of control over how the camera will work the image is a huge turn off for me.

As far as clouds go, HDR (even a faux HDR made from a single shot) usually will do wonders with them.

FAKE EDIT: One thing you could try with that shot is making it monochrome. The colors aren't doing much for the shot, but if you go black and white and contrasty, it could make things really pop for you with it.
08-24-2014, 01:56 AM   #7
Veteran Member




Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Flyover America
Posts: 4,469
I guess I'm just old school - what's wrong with just letting the natural (more or less) light speak for it's self?


Last edited by wildman; 08-27-2014 at 06:46 PM.
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
critique, hdr, photography
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Landscape Pitt Lake from Pitt Addington Marsh Wildlife Management Area (BC Canada) HDR stylinred Pentax K-3 Photo Contest 2 05-18-2014 02:36 AM
Landscape Lake Surroundings (First HDR attempt) BeginnerDave Photo Critique 6 02-12-2013 09:54 PM
Landscape Vermillion Lake - HDR daacon Post Your Photos! 18 07-10-2012 05:03 PM
Nature Patoka Lake HDR Rondec Post Your Photos! 7 02-29-2012 04:25 AM
Sunset on a lake hdr attack11 Post Your Photos! 16 08-07-2007 10:31 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:11 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top