My First Try at HDR

[jamesl]

Well, I finally decided to give HDR a try. I have a number of images I've captured over the past few years that I thought might work well for HDR. Most were shot in RAW. I used Photoshop to extract 3 seperate exposures from the RAW file. I then combined those using Photomatix. The resulting image I polished off in Photoshop.

I really like the results in some instances. I've noticed that it is very easy to give the image a fake look to it. It also seems easy to oversature things, which I did in a few of these images. Overall, I think I need to continue to look into it. :D

A few examples:

http://jamesl.smugmug.com/photos/139994613-O.jpg

http://jamesl.smugmug.com/photos/139994600-O.jpg

http://jamesl.smugmug.com/photos/139994608-O.jpg

http://jamesl.smugmug.com/photos/139994627-M.jpg

http://jamesl.smugmug.com/photos/139994617-O.jpg

http://jamesl.smugmug.com/photos/139994629-M.jpg

http://jamesl.smugmug.com/photos/139994638-M.jpg

http://jamesl.smugmug.com/photos/139994642-M.jpg

Thanks for looking!

James

[Phil U.]

James! Good to see some of your stuff again.

I'd say #s 1, 4, & 5 are my favorites - mostly because of the compositions. I think the HDR though also works well on these. Some may say it looks a bit unnatural in #4 but it looks cool to me. All very good in my book.

#s 2 & 6 do look like a bit to much and 7 & 8 are probably close.

I'm riding the fence on #3 but man, what a cool sky! It just needs one of your lightning bolts in it :wink

Overall a strong showing - :clap

[digitalpins]

Great work on the HDR images, I think the first 5 are amazing. I love working HDR images and you did a great job on these

[jamesl]

Hi Phil! Nice to see you are still here. I really haven't been around much for a while. Work has been crazy busy, and my I spend most of my time with my family. :D

I appreciate that feedback. I wish I could have gotten a lightning bolt in that storm pano! No luck though. :dunno

Thanks again!

James

James! Good to see some of your stuff again.

I'd say #s 1, 4, & 5 are my favorites - mostly because of the compositions. I think the HDR though also works well on these. Some may say it looks a bit unnatural in #4 but it looks cool to me. All very good in my book.

#s 2 & 6 do look like a bit to much and 7 & 8 are probably close.

I'm riding the fence on #3 but man, what a cool sky! It just needs one of your lightning bolts in it :wink

Overall a strong showing - :clap

[jamesl]

Thanks! In the past, I have really shied away from it. However, I've really forced myself to learn how it works, and I think it can get great results.

Do you have any HDR galleries I can look at? I'm always looking for inspiration. :thumb

Take care,

James

Great work on the HDR images, I think the first 5 are amazing. I love working HDR images and you did a great job on these